Touch of the Future
by Happy Doodle
Summary: Sequel to Talk of the Past! Luke Skywalker is starting a New Jedi Order, but he needs the help of Ezra, Kanan and Ahsoka in order to make his plan work. At the same time, they will meet up with someone from the past that they thought they will never have the chance to see again.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Happy new year! Here is the sequel to Talk Of The Past. XD ( I have just come home from watching Force Awakens, so I may still be very emotionally unstable and too excited)**

 **If you haven't read Talk of The Past, I suggest that you finish it before moving on to this, in order to have the best reading experience. :D Thanks! Without further ado, let's begin!**

Once the Ghost ship took off into the night sky, Ezra walked out from the cockpit back to his quarters, hoping to get a good night sleep before they reached Yavin 4, because just one hour ago, Ahsoka, Kanan and him received a holotransmission from Luke Skywalker, telling them to go to Yavin 4 to find him.

Sabine had been most incredulous, ' Yavin 4? Of all the places including the Rebel base we could go to, we need to go to Yavin 4? I thought most of the Rebellion forces have been evacuated! What does he want you two plus Ahsoka for?' It was a rather curious demand, but none of them wanted to question Luke, so they simply swallowed their questions and followed his orders. Hera immediately started up the engines and set course for Yavin 4.

Back in his room, Ezra took off his boots and simply plopped onto his bed. It had been a month after the Endor battle victory, yet the entire Rebel Alliance was still in extreme party mode. The only ones who were still working despite the festivities were the politicians. They were already creating a blueprint of a New Republic to replace the Empire. Seriously, he had no idea how those people could still manage to calmly sit down and be serious when the entire universe was basically in party mood.

It seemed that he couldn't fall asleep, so instead, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling in the darkness. _Peace at last,_ he told himself. The Daughter was right. Hope was never lost. And now, the Rebel Alliance managed to achieve it.

Speaking of the Daughter... He hadn't seen the mysterious Force-wielder ever since the time he was sent back to the future. After their little adventure, Ahsoka sat Kanan and him down, and told them the full story about Mortis. It was a rather grisly tale and Ezra didn't really like the sound of that Son dude. He sounded scarier than Darth Vader. Or the Seventh Sister.

He was beginning to fall asleep, but there was a sudden tremor in the Force, causing an extremely sharp pain to explode on his head. It almost felt like he was hit on the head by a TIE fighter, and that impact nearly knocked him out of breath. He gasped for air and his eyes flew open to check for the source of the disturbance, when he found himself looking at Daughter again.

 _This couldn't be good._

There was an urgency in Daughter's voice, ' Ezra Bridger. We don't have much time, but can you feel the disturbance in the Force?'

Ezra rubbed his throbbing head and replied, ' Yes, I can, my Lady. Very clearly. What was that all about?'

She said darkly, ' My stupid brother, apparently thought that it was a good idea to play around with the Force and time. He made a very horrible mistake.'

 _'_ The Son,' Ezra realised in abject horror. ' What has he done?'

' Yes, my brother, the Son. Last time, I manipulated the Force to transfer people from the future to the past. This time, my brother copied my idea. He extracted two certain somebody from the past to the future! From the same timeline too!' She pursed her lips tightly.

' WHAT?' Ezra spluttered. ' But... But... The balance of the Force will be tipped over! That was exactly why we weren't allowed to say anything to the past people. Whoever _the two certain somebody_ are, we have to eventually send them back to the past! Then they will carry the knowledge of the future back home! And they will change stuff... And... WHAT? It will be one giant paradox! Can't you stop your brother?'

' It's too late,' She shook her head. ' The damage has already been done. Now we can just hope that we can reduce the impact of the damage.'

' Such as what...?'

' If you are lucky, both timelines will either be merged seamlessly together or become two separate, unharmed timelines. But... If you are unlucky... Both will be destroyed and swallowed by chaos,' She said. ' Don't worry, the latter is rather unlikely... But it is still possible. The chance is slim.'

That didn't stop Ezra from being terrified. Being destroyed and swallowed by chaos didn't sound like one fun option.

' I think I'll go for the lucky one then. What should I do?'

' Trust in the Force, Ezra Bridger. The Force will guide you. I have already minimised the damage by setting the time allowance. They can stay in your timeline for _a month_ , then they can return. The time allowed is this long, because we need the Force to properly settle and get used to the mix-up.'

' Ah,' Ezra said, swallowing down his jealousy. ' I have a question. You did say the _two people_ your brother managed to extract comes from the exact same timeline we left. Will they have any memory about us? Or will the memory still be locked in their minds?' That was rather unfair! If only they could stay in the past for _a month_...

' Their memory will automatically be unlocked, but it will take some time for the memories to be totally unlocked,' Daughter explained. ' Are there anymore questions?'

' What exactly is the Son's real motive behind all this fuss? Why send people to the future? Is this some sort of Dark side plan?' Ezra asked fearfully.

' It is not a Dark side plan, I can assure you,' Daughter sighed. ' He is just playing around with stuff and being one big jerk. It is purely for fun. You know, he gets amusement from people's misery. He loves misery and chaos. Promise me, Ezra Bridger. Bring them to Yavin 4 with you. Get them to meet Ahsoka Tano and Luke Skywalker. Feel free to give them any knowledge they want to know. The Force will guide you.'

 _That didn't sound nice._

' Okay. I get it,' Ezra nodded. ' So... The _two somebody..._ When will they arrive?'

' Soon, I guess. I have already made my brother delay their arrival once I discovered what he has done. Oh, speaking of the devil, here they come!' Her form rippled and vanished.

' What do you mean? Wait!' But she was already gone.

The next second, there was a massive 'WOAH' and Ezra found himself entirely squashed face-first onto his bed by two unidentified beings.

 **Aaand... Done! Sorry if this chapter is crappy, because firstly, I am not so good at doing introductions and secondly, I am still too giddy to write properly. But I can guarantee you the future chapters will be better.**

 **Okay! Guesses for who the _two certain someone_ is! XD**

 **AND SO I WENT TO SEE FORCE AWAKENS TODAY! WHOOOOOHOOOO! IT WAS SO GOOD! IT WAS SO GOOD I COULD CRY AND DANCE AT THE SAME TIME! HOW CAN ONE BE SO HAPPY AND SAD AT THE SAME TIME? I seriously don't know! The new characters are so cool! Rey is so cool! Finn is so awesome! Poe is so wonderful! Kylo is kind of cool too! And BB8 is so cute! Soundtracks are cool as well, I really like Rey's theme.**

 **And I probably annoyed the other people in the cinema, because I was so excited. I probably was the only one who gasped in excitement when the opening crawl showed up (because it is just so awesome on a cinema screen and it was my first time watching Star Wars in a cinema) that the other people were shooting me weird looks and probably thinking that I overreacted. But hey, how could one not marvel how cool it is?**

 **Okay. Enough of that! I'll save all those fangirling when I get back to school! My friend and I will have a lot to talk about on the first day of school. Anyways, thanks so much for reading! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

' What a... Disconcerting situation,' Kanan frowned at the two unconscious bodies lying on the floor.

The Crew had been most surprised when they banged open Ezra's door to investigate all the noises. They expected some sort of assailant trying to attack their youngest member, but instead, they saw Ezra firmly wedged under two people. Zeb was the first to recover from his shock after hearing Ezra's muffled pleas for help.

After Ezra was rescued from the 'debris', he told the Crew of the Daughter's announcement and the Son's little game (while Chopper 'massaged' his back with a hammer). Sabine was most dismayed. Then Hera suggested Kanan to investigate who exactly the two lucky (read _unfortunate_ ), chosen people were.

Kanan crouched down to examine the first. It was a tall, strong-built man in dark brown Jedi garb. The most notable feature of his face was the lightsaber scar slashed across his right eye. Even with the man's eyes closed, Kanan had no problem with identifying who it was. ' It is Anakin Skywalker,' He confirmed. ' Ahsoka's former Jedi Master.'

' Anakin Skywalker?' Sabine repeated incredulously. ' As in Darth Vader?'

' Let's forget about Darth Vader, people,' Zeb said gruffly. ' This is Anakin Skywalker, alright? Now get on with identifying that other kid over there.'

The other looked about 13 years old. He was a Jedi Padawan, judging from the dark brown Padawan braid curled down to his neck. But Ezra nearly jumped in excitement when he noticed the design of the lightsaber dangling on the boy's belt. ' This lightsaber...'

' Yes,' Kanan said in abject horror. ' This unfortunately is Caleb Dume, Younger-me.'

' Caleb! YAAAAAAS!' Ezra squealed in excitement. ' I thought I would never see him again! Oh thank the Force for that! What are the odds? But why would he end up with Ahsoka's Master? What were they doing together? Gosh, Luke and Ahsoka must see this!'

But Kanan didn't look too excited to see his hyperactive self again.

' Okay, calm down Ezra! You can ask him all that when they wake up. Zeb, please help me put Anakin on Ezra's bed. They'll catch a cold lying on the floor like that. You won't mind, Ezra?'

' Nah.'

' Great. Kanan, carry your younger self to your own bedroom please and look after him until he wakes up.'

' What? Why?' Kanan spluttered at Hera.

' Be nice to him!' Ezra copied Ahsoka's quote smartly. ' You can't bully yourself.'

Kanan muttered something that sounded like complaints about the Son, scooped up Caleb and left the room moodily. Ezra was so certain that the Son was hovering invisibly somewhere up there, probably laughing at Kanan's humiliation, and the Daughter simply looked on with disapproval at her brother.

* * *

' Thank you so much for picking me up, Luke,' Ahsoka smiled at Luke warmly once the Millennium Falcon took off into space. ' I was beginning to worry that I couldn't book a transport to Yavin 4 from Shili.'

Before Luke could reply, Han Solo shouted over his shoulder from the front seat, ' Thank me, not him! This beautiful ship is mine! And you are just borrowing it.' Chewbacca roared 'show-off' in Wookieespeak. Speaking of Chewbacca, both Ahsoka and him were thrilled to see each other again, because they remembered the Trandoshan Hunt very well (which kind of baffled Han).

' You were the one who volunteered to take me to Yavin 4 with your ship,' Luke rolled his eyes. ' Don't talk as if I used a Jedi mind trick to force you to take me there.'

Han deliberately ignored Luke's statement, ' And listen up, kid. You had better be quick, because I can't be late. I have to get to the Hosnian system to pick up your sister from that boring New Republic conference.'

' AKA your _girlfriend,_ ' Luke smirked and Ahsoka laughed at Han's embarrassed expression.

' I am not going to say anything,' Han glowered.

' You just did.'

Han didn't answer and kept on twiddling for the coordinates of Yavin 4.

' As I was saying... Mind telling me why exactly you want Kanan, Ezra and I on Yavin 4? Has something happened?' Ahsoka finally cracked the question she had been aching to ask for a long time since she got the message.

' Yeah... About that. I have something in mind... I am thinking of restarting the Jedi Order. What do you think?' Luke said shyly.

' Me? Oh my goodness, Luke, that's such a wonderful idea! Go for it,' Ahsoka beamed.

' Master Yoda and Father thinks so too. But the problem is... I need help. I need some people to help me find Force-senstivie initiates, I need someone to help me train them and I need someone to help me manage the new Order. So I was thinking... Kanan and you have had experience with the previous Jedi Order, plus Ezra also practices the Force. I was just wondering if you could help me,' He quickly added, ' You can refuse, you know. I am not forcing you to help me. I know you left the Order, and Father reckons that you don't want to have anything to do with the Jedi Order anymore...'

 _Oh Skyguy._ Ahsoka thought about it for a while. Indeed she had left the previous Order, because she felt like the Jedi Council wasn't as perfect as she had always thought. Heck, they didn't even trust her! While she was out there all these years, she couldn't help but think that Barriss might be right. The Order was starting to get a bit corrupted and went against what they used to be - Peacekeepers. The War made them look more like the actual culprits (not what they intended).

But now... Peace! If Luke could start a new Jedi Order, she could help build it so that it would not repeat the same mistakes the old Jedi Order had! It was a brand-new, different Jedi Order. Maybe with just a couple changes here and there with the original, stiff Jedi Code, the Jedi Order could become more flexible. She ought to give Luke a chance.

' You know what, tell Skyguy that he is wrong,' She said at last. ' I'm in. Of course I will help you! But I think the new Jedi Order needs to be more flexible in some ways, for example the no-attachment rule. It doesn't work anymore.'

' I agree,' Luke said excitedly. ' So you are coming back?'

' Yep.'

' Great!' Luke sighed in relief that he had finally found some help. ' That is really great. Now I hope Ezra and Kanan can join in.'

' Of course they will,' Ahsoka said. ' It is Ezra's dream to be a real Jedi.'

' _Show-off!'_ 3PO said disdainfully, his sudden voice scaring both Luke and Ahsoka. At the far corner of the ship, across to where they were both sitting, R2 was showing 3PO some holovids that he had taken himself back in the Clone Wars. R2 was rather annoyed by the fact that 3PO's memory was mind-wiped (Anakin's Force-ghost was rather annoyed too because 3PO had innocently asked him who he was).

' Oh please, Luke! Tell him something about me! I built him!' Anakin had complained to Luke one day. R2 took it upon himself to bring Anakin's admirable request into action, so he began what Luke called the 'R2D2 Movie Marathon', where he would show 3PO holovids about the past life and basically introduce him to people from the past.

R2 was currently showing 3PO a video in which Ahsoka recognised as the time when R2 duelled the turncoat droid R3S6. They had just gotten to the part where R3 fell off the catwalk and was destroyed. Ahsoka had no idea that R2 was filming the entire scene throughout the duel.

' Master Luke, there is no way this is true!' 3PO rattled. ' R2 cannot fight at all!' R2 beeped angrily and threatened to electric-shock 3PO.

' Oi, you two! Stop fighting at the back!' Han said. ' Or you'll destroy the Falcon!'

' Leia gave R2 and 3PO to me,' Luke shrugged. ' Thought I will need their help on Yavin 4.'

' That's very nice of her,' Ahsoka commented. ' By the way, have you seen your Father or Obi-wan?'

' Yep, Ben visited a month ago, and Father visited me just yesterday. What about you?'

' He showed up suddenly in my temporary hut on the second day of my holiday retreat on Shili,' She scowled. ' I was having dinner. Nearly choked me to death. And he nearly laughed himself to death. Luckily Obi-wan came to haul him away.'

' That sounds like Father,' Luke laughed.

' Okay, we're coming out of hyperspace,' Han announced.

 **Here's a new chapter before I go back to school... *sighs***

 **I'll be getting the results of my mid-year exams tomorrow. *deeper sighs* Let's hope there will be a new Star Wars Rebels episode soon because this is the only thing that is keeping me motivated at school.**

 **Me: *sings* oh how quick a week passes by! There will be a new episode of SWR soon... Time flies, time flies.**

 **Friend: (whispers to other classmates) She has gone crazy.**


	3. Chapter 3

Anakin and Caleb had woken up just minutes before they made their jump out of the hyperspace. Ezra was tending to Anakin while Kanan tended to young Caleb (Hera stayed at the cockpit to pilot the ship), and both guests' reaction towards the entire thing was completely polar.

Anakin proved to be extremely difficult (this trait was even more obvious when he was Darth Vader, but that would be another story), because he thought that Ezra was crazy and even demanded him to let him go unless he wanted to have _aggressive negotiations._ He even rudely called Ezra a 'lunatic' after he told him that he was 24 years into the future (or at least he thought it was 24, because his math wasn't that good either).

It was until Ezra used the I-know-about-your-future card, and told him with a deadpan look, ' Tell this to your son, Luke Skywalker after we arrive on Yavin 4. Let's see how he will react after knowing that you called his friend a lunatic. I think your daughter would like to know too.' The older man choked.

' Yes, indeed. I know you are married to Senator Amidala of Naboo too.'

More violent choking.

The situation was going rather out of hand, so Ezra fled the room. But before he exited, Anakin asked, ' Now I think about it, you look kind of familiar. Are you a Jedi?'

' Yep. I am. And I look familiar because you have seen me 24 years ago,' Ezra said bluntly, and left without seeing the reaction on Anakin's face.

On the other side, Caleb recovered his memory immediately and was able to remember exactly who Kanan and Ezra were, despite the fact the Daughter said that their memories would need time to recover. Once his eyes shot open and caught sight of Kanan, he screamed, ' OOH, OLDER-ME! I MISS YOU SO MUCH! DO YOU REMEMBER ME? I AM YOUNGER-ME!' Then he proceeded to hug Kanan.

Ezra had a very hard time trying to explain to an extremely squashed and angry Kanan why Caleb's memory could recover at such a shocking speed (' But... But... The Daughter said they won't remember that much! I swear!'). Though... he had ample time to consider the inevitable - introducing this younger version of Kanan to the rest of the crew.

* * *

R2 and 3PO followed Ahsoka and Luke down to the ground. ' Thank you, Captain Solo and Chewbacca,' Ahsoka called up to Han, who was surveying them high above the ship.

' Oh, I like that name,' Han said, sounding really pleased and flattered. ' So... I'm going to leave you here, kid, even if you don't have any problem, remember to contact either me or Leia. See you!' Then he went back into the cockpit and within seconds, the Millennium Falcon shot into the air like a bullet.

' Okay... It looks like they haven't arrived yet,' Luke said, looking around. ' We probably can't go that far yet, or else they can't find us. Maybe we'll wait around here, so when they arrive, we can explore for a suitable place to start building a new Jedi Order?'

' Sounds great. R2, mind scanning the surroundings?' Ahsoka asked. R2 chirped as a response and wheeled around enthusiastically.

' Oh, R2, wait for me!' 3PO scrambled to follow R2 around.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka sat down under one of those giant trees. Togrutans had always been great fans of the nature, and she was no exception even though she spent her childhood and half of her teenage years on a planet with almost no nature (well not counting the Room of Thousand Fountains).

A little tingling in the Force signalled the appearance of Ghost-Anakin. Just in a couple seconds, the bluish Force-ghost of Anakin Skywalker materialised out of thin air in front of Ahsoka.

' What is it again?' Ahsoka demanded, annoyed.

' Oh come on. Are you still angry with me for appearing suddenly inside your house? I didn't mean for you to choke on your meal!' He pouted. ' I warned you that I can appear anywhere!'

' Yeah, but you can do me a favour by knocking or announcing yourself before you come in! That's so impolite! Don't you know you should always knock before going in a lady's room?' Ahsoka pressed on hotly.

' I did! I told you that a long time ago! You weren't listening to me!'

' No you didn't!'

' Hello Father!' Luke barged into the conversation because he scented danger from miles away. ' Good to see you again! Where is Ben though? Isn't he with you?'

' Oh, the _old man_?' Ghost-Anakin chuckled. ' Enjoying himself somewhere on Ahch-To, that lucky duck.'

' Ahch-To?' Ahsoka asked, sounding a bit interested. ' Is that a planet?'

' Yeah, a really nice aquatic planet with loads of islands that has a lot of rocks and greenery. Unlimited supply of fish guaranteed. Not a bad place. I myself once thought of retiring there after my... You know... Services to the Empire,' Ghost-Anakin shrugged. Luke and Ahsoka looked at each other, an image of a happy Darth Vader frolicking around on a beach in his full suit (with a couple stormtroopers as his 'handmaidens') passed through their minds at the same time.

Nonetheless, Luke managed to say, ' Sounds like a good retirement spot.'

' I know right?' Ghost-Anakin said jealously. ' I envy that old man, going off with Master Yoda without me.' A mental image of Obi-wan having a nice picnic with Yoda popped up in Luke's mind. He imagined Obi-wan sunbathing on a picnic mat while Yoda sipped lemonade. Both of them were straw sun-hats.

' You are a ghost, aren't you? You can just show up anywhere you like,' Ahsoka accused. ' You just told me that yourself.'

' Doesn't work that way. Let's talk about something else...' Anakin said nonchalantly but his words were interrupted by Ezra's bright voice, ' Hi! We aren't late, are we? We landed just a couple miles away from this thicket of trees, and look at who I have brought here?'

Ghost-Anakin, Ahsoka and Luke looked past Ezra, Kanan, Sabine, Hera, Zeb and Chopper, and to their shock, they found themselves looking at an exact carbon-copy of Anakin Skywalker himself (only he wasn't transparent and blue) and young little Caleb who looked as excited and hyperactive as ever.

Anakin's eyes widened to the size of plates and dropped to the ground, then fainted.

Ghost-Anakin tripped over a piece of log and tumbled onto the dirt as well. If ghosts could faint, he most certainly would have fainted.

 **Aaaand... Done. :D**

 **XD My good friend and I kept discussing Star Wars to the point that we see Star Wars references almost everywhere. This is a good example:**

 **Me: (reading the word 'Millennium' on an English passage) Oooooh. The Millennium Falcon.**

 **Innocent Classmate: What is a Millennium Falcon?**

 **Other people who has witnessed my extreme fangirling: NO!**

 **Friend: NO!**

 **Me: The Millennium Falcon, and according to Han Solo, it made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, and then you know what, at the beginning of New Hope, Luke Skywalker, Obi-wan Kenobi... *endless facts about the entire Star Wars***

 **Innocent Classmate: Okay okay okay! I get it! Now please stop!**

 **Me: *continues* It participated in so many battles. In the Battle of Endor, Lando...**

 **You get it. :D Thanks for reading! Until next time. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Ghost-Anakin was annoyed after he heard Ezra's tale of the Son's little game. Plus, he wasn't the least amused to know that his younger, alive self was in the same timeline with him, and was exceptionally grumpy when young Caleb kindly offered to set them apart by saying Ghost-me and Alive-me.

They moved to some spot in the woods to continue their Jedi business, while Sabine, Hera and Zeb collected wood to make a temporary fort until Luke decided where exactly to live. Perhaps, if they were lucky, they could find some kind of old Rebel Alliance headquarters, but the hunting work would be for the next day, because Luke decided that most of them were kind of tired.

Ahsoka hovered and laid the fainted Anakin on the softest bit of ground under the shades. It was the best spot they could find.

' That Son,' Ghost-Anakin growled. ' I knew he was behind all that! I thought he died! How did he manage to do that?'

' He is not dead,' Ahsoka corrected. ' His corporeal body which is his only ties to the mortal world is just gone but that doesn't mean he is dead.'

' Dead or not,' Ghost-Anakin said. ' I mean, he is definitely up to no good.'

' I am not worried about the Son. The Daughter said he did it just for fun,' Ezra said grimly. ' I am more worried about how to explain this mess of a future to this Anakin. Like how are we supposed to tell him that the Jedi Order is gone, and a New republic is rising to take the place of that Empire? He already thinks that we are slightly crazy. I think after all this, he will think that we are lunatics.' At least they didn't have to worry about Caleb, because the shock of the revelation was long gone for him. Now, the young Padawan was extremely eager to change the future when he returned to his timeline.

' There will be no Empire! Everyone will be safe!' He promised cheerfully, which earned him a glare from his older self.

' But Ezra... You did say that he remembers your name. How much do you think my Father remembers?' Luke asked worriedly.

' Not much. He can't remember who I am exactly. His memory is just so bad,' Ezra said, not realising the murderous look the Force-ghost was giving him.

' Hey! I'll pretend I didn't hear that. And I'll pretend that I didn't hear that rude comment of yours about how squishy I ws, excuse me,' Ghost-Anakin scoffed.

' That is not the point,' Ahsoka face-palmed. ' The point is how to tell him this horrible future. Sorry, Anakin, but we can't omit the fact that you are pretty bad at making choices.'

' I'll pretend that I didn't hear that.'

' We'll have to tell him everything eventually, so why not go ahead and retell everything in chronological order? That's better,' Kanan stated. ' Once understanding hit home, it'll be much better.'

' Indeed,' Young Caleb said, while patting Kanan's arm sympathetically. ' I am so sorry for you, Older-me. I didn't know you never made it to the rank of Jedi knight. I thought that you would, but you couldn't, due to that horrid Order 66.'

Ahsoka smiled, ' Don't worry, you-'

A low groan interrupted Ahsoka's sentence. ' Looks like he's awake,' Sabine pointed out while spray-painting the half finished fort. ' You people tend to him.'

' We had better use more familiar faces, or else he will freak out,' Kanan commented. ' Maybe he will not react so much when he sees Ahsoka.' So Ahsoka crept up to where Anakin was lying.

The man sat up as quickly as a bullet, and pointed shakily at the extremely offended Ghost-Anakin, ' Impostor... That's an impostor...'

' Oh, come on! I am you, you are me!' Ghost-Anakin grumbled.

Ahsoka grabbed the sleeve of Anakin's tunic and asked, ' Skyguy, it's me. Focus. How much do you remember?'

' It's you, Ahsoka,' He grabbed Ahsoka's hand in panic. ' What... How... You left... But... I have seen...'

' You're right, Ezra, his memory is just so bad,' She tilted her head to nod at Ezra (Ghost-Anakin made an indignant noise). ' But I think it will come back after a while, we'll just wait. We have plenty of time. Meanwhile... Anakin, this may be hard to accept, but you have travelled a lot of years into the future.'

' But... That's impossible,' Anakin shook his head in bewilderment.

' It's possible,' Ahsoka said as bluntly as possible. ' And this is your future son, Luke Skywalker.' Luke attempted a friendly wave, but it felt stiff and awkward.

' I...' Anakin's face turned red. ' I am a Jedi! I have no attachments... I mean... I can't have a son.' At that point, Luke was rather embarrassed. He kind of felt disowned. Ahsoka didn't know what to say next, but fortunately, Ghost-Anakin decided to come to their rescue.

' Cut that out,' Ghost-Anakin quipped. ' You are married- No, I mean, we are married to Padme Amidala.'

' That sounds wrong in so many levels,' Caleb whispered to Ezra and the two boys giggled secretly.

' You...' Anakin said stiffly. ' I... I don't have a son. He can't be our son.'

' Still awkward,' Ezra commented and Caleb nodded vigorously.

' No. He IS your son,' Ghost-Anakin deadpanned.

' That is not true! That's impossible!' Anakin said stubbornly.

' Gah! Search your feelings, you know it to be true! Use the Force, man! Can't you feel it?' Ghost-Anakin was starting to get very annoyed, but he began to realise how much it mirrored his conversation with Luke, years ago on Cloud City. Talk about deja vu. It felt kind of ridiculous.

Anakin was still clinging onto Ahsoka. ' Use the Force. Feel it,' Ahsoka nodded.

Anakin closed his eyes and concentrated. It was so easy to get connected to Luke's Force signature. It just felt so... Natural and familiar. He was stupid not to have sensed it right away. As for the Ghost-Anakin, it was his own Force signature. But the signature radiated wisdom, light and experience.

' You are my son,' He told Luke shakily. ' You are really my son.'

' So. You have accepted the truth,' Ghost-Anakin crossed his ghostly arms. ' Yes, Luke, don't look at me like that. I have the very right to use my own quotes. I can't sue myself.'

' I have, but it is very hard... How is that possible?' Anakin said. ' There are so many questions... What exactly happened to us between all these years?'

Ghost-Anakin and Ahsoka looked at each other. ' Ummmm... Not much?' Ahsoka said sarcastically.

 **Okay, nothing really happened here... :P**

 **I just realised that there are a lot of secret Star Wars fans in my class! Yippee! And we talk so much fandom stuff :D Last**

 **I am just so glad exam distribution is over... XD Those exam nerves always get us jumping around in terror... Just last time:**

 **Teacher: You shouldn't be so afraid of exams. Does anyone know why we shouldn't fear?**

 **Student 1: It tests for our knowledge so we shouldn't fear it.**

 **Student 2: Because if we work hard, there is nothing to fear.**

 **Me and friend: (Yoda voice) It is because fear is the path to the dark side! Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering! So fear exams, we should not.**

 **All students: What.**

 **Friend: Awkward.**

 **Me: We should totally write down all our awkward Star Wars fangirling and people's reactions onto a book.**

 **Friend: Yeah. Totally.**


	5. Chapter 5

Apparently Ezra was too terrified to tell the story to Anakin, so he gave up the hard job to Ahsoka and Kanan to finish. Ahsoka told most of it, but Kanan added some more details to it while an extremely bored Ghost-Anakin gave comments from time to time. Luke watched on anxiously and provided facts.

As they got further and further into the entire story about the formation of the Rebellion, Anakin's face could be seen growing purpler and purpler at an alarming rate, until finally when Kanan got to the part where Darth Vader threw the Emperor down the chute, he got up and screamed out something to the sky.

Ahsoka knew it was Huttese, because Anakin liked to say _quite_ a lot of Huttese during battles in more... Unpleasant situations. She still remembered Obi-wan angrily scolding Anakin when he blurted out some strange Huttese words after a particularly nasty battle ( ' _Anakin! How many times do I need to tell you to mind your language? Your Padawan is here!'_ ). It was her first time hearing Huttese words, so she didn't know what it exactly meant. Even if she wanted to know, Obi-wan threatened Anakin not to explain. Later, she bribed Kix and Coric (without General Skywalker, General Kenobi or Captain Rex knowing of course), and that was when she caught onto some Huttese language study.

Switching back to his normal language, he growled, ' Palpatine is the Sith Lord we have been looking for so long? He has been deceiving all of us since he has been made Chancellor! I can't believe it! I thought he was a good man... Yet... He turned me into a monster! He... Manipulated my weaknesses! How can that be?'

Ghost-Anakin nodded glumly in silent agreement. ' Padme... How did he know she will die at childbirth? Where did that vision even come from?' He spat.

Luke shrugged, ' I think this is more like a self-fulfilling vision. The more you try to prevent it from happening, higher the chance it will happen.'

' But I can't lose your mother. Whether it is fake or not, I can't bear the thought of losing your mother. I love her,' Ghost-Anakin said lightly. Ezra wasn't sure whether to say 'aw' or gag at the open declaration of love in front of everything.

' Okay. But you must not trust him. Come on. This vision is kind of... Not so logical. Padme is an extremely healthy woman with regular exercise and a healthy diet. She has regular check-ups at the hospital and she even has handmaidens to take care of her medical daily needs. There is no way such a healthy woman can die in the middle of childbirth,' Ahsoka tried to reason with Anakin. ' Just stay with her, take care of her, and everything will be fine.'

' You must bear in mind, looks can be deceiving,' Kanan warned. ' When you go back, don't trust anything that worm Palpatine tells you. He is a Sith Lord and is very good at sweet-talking. Everything he says or does, including orchestrating the Clone Wars, is just one great trap to pull you to the Dark Side.'

' His plan,' Ezra realised suddenly. ' Is to isolate you from everyone! To make sure you start to hate the Jedi and everyone around you. The first step is to take away your mother, sorry for reminding that, but it's true. The second step is the Clone Wars, and the unfortunate by-product of that is Ahsoka leaving the Order. Then it adds up to the entire no-Master crisis and the Mace Windu assassination crisis.'

' Wow, thanks for elaborating,' Ghost-Anakin huffed dryly.

' It's true though,' Ahsoka said apologetically.

' Okay, okay, I get it! I get turned into some kind of stupid machine! _Thank you Son_ for telling me that!' He said sharply into the air, as if the Son was around. ' Thanks so much for ruining my life!'

' Okay, enough of that, back to normal business. How much of the time travel stuff do you remember? Your memory should be recovering by now,' Kanan asked.

' I don't know.'

' Let's just test for something, like trivia stuff. Really trivia stuff,' Luke suggested. ' Maybe something about one of us that you can remember... Go on... Try it...'

' Are your... new lightsabers silver?' Anakin asked Ahsoka uncertainly after a while. He had no idea how he knew it. For heaven's sake, her lightsabers remained unsheathed on her belt for the whole time, and he didn't feel like he had seen it. But somehow, he knew it. It was almost like an invisible speech bubble popping up in his mind and he got it. The feeling was so confusing that he kind of felt sick.

' Yes,' Ahsoka said, surprised. ' What else do you remember?'

He looked at Ezra for a while, then managed to say, ' You... You fell from that vent... Right on top of me... In the morning.'

' And?' Ezra said eagerly.

' You... Were running away from someone. I think. Someone... Your Master?' He was concentrating so hard. ' Because of some kind of classroom freak accident?'

' Phew. You actually remember something,' Ezra said, wiping imaginary sweat across his brow. ' That wasn't much, but that's a great step to improvement.'

Luke laughed. But at that moment he realised something... Something was missing! Oh no! While they moved their spots into the woods, they completely forgot that R2 and 3PO were still rolling out somewhere, probably lost right now. They completely forgot that they existed.

' Oh no, we forgot about R2 and 3PO,' Luke told Ahsoka, panicking.

' Right!' Ahsoka gulped. ' We...'

' What? R2 and 3PO are here?' Anakin and Ghost-Anakin gasped.

Just as Luke was about to stand up to find them, a pompous voice could be heard from their far left, just behind a thicket of bushes, ' Oh, R2. I knew you were going the wrong way!' In response, there was a series of rather annoyed beeps.

' Oh, don't you say that to me, R2! You are being extremely rude,' The voice - 3PO chastised angrily.

Then, the bushes rustled, revealing R2 and 3PO. Once 3PO spotted the small huddled party in front of them, he threw up his hands and cried, ' Oh, thank the Maker you are here!' R2 whirred around enthusiastically.

' Oh, Master Ani!' 3PO said, noticing the bluish Force-Ghost. ' I have heard so much about you! R2 has been showing me some holovids of you, I think that I may finally know...' His voice faltered when he noticed two identical looking versions of Anakin staring at him with amusement.

' Wait. There are... 2 of Master Ani?' 3PO asked, as confused as a droid could be.

 **Yaay. :D**

 **The Star Wars theme song was stuck in my head today, so I kept humming it throughout school day. ;) But I changed it to Imperial March or Throne Room end title occasionally in case my desk mates got bored or annoyed. Then, my friend found out that we could play the virtual piano on the I-Pad, so we did a Star Wars medley impromptu at lunch (which made a lot of classmates extremely puzzled).**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi... sorry if my writing is crappy, because I have just seen the SWR mid-season trailer and was getting so excited and hyped-up! If you haven't seen it yet, go see it! It is so awesome that I want to cry! XDDDDDDD (wonders how I am going to survive this week because I am too excited and depressed and words can't simply describe my emotions right now)**

' What? You found an old rebel fortress?' Luke repeated, almost exploding with excitement at the report 3PO had just told him of.

' Oh, Master Luke, R2 reckoned he could find it,' 3PO answered proudly. ' Go on, R2, show them your scans.' R2 whistled happily in obligation, then displayed a flickering hologram of a floor plan like thing. Amongst lots and lots of trees, there was a large building in the middle. It looked kind of old and worn-out, but it was unmistakable that it once belonged to the alliance, because the top bore the famous Alliance starbird symbol, that also decorated many other rebel buildings and the helmets of x-wing pilots.

' What? An abandoned fortress?' Ezra said in disbelief. ' Just right in the middle of this forest?'

' I think I have heard of Leia mentioning about an abandoned Rebel building in the forests to Mon Mothma just before evacuating this planet,' Ahsoka recalled. ' She said it had been deserted a long time ago, but it could still serve as a living place if necessary. It must be the one she talked about.'

' What? Evacuation?' Anakin interrupted.

' Gah. Can't you remember? You and those Imperials tried to attack this planet with the Death Star, that's why we needed to evacuate in the first place,' Ahsoka eyed him tiredly.

Anakin defended, ' What? I still can't understand! Luke destroyed the Death Star already! That means the Imperials won't go after them. For quite a while.'

' They built another Death Star though,' Caleb provided.

' Don't look at me. It wasn't my idea,' Ghost-Anakin said. ' That was the disgusting Emperor's idea. And, Alive-me, think about it. Once they-'

' Oi, that is not the point here,' Luke waved a hand in front of his ghostly father and turned to 3PO. ' 3PO, how long is it from here?' R2 chirped something to 3PO that meant _shouldn't take quite a long time from here, I guess._

' Cool. We should check out this place,' Kanan answered. ' Is it true you want to build a new Jedi Order?' Ahsoka had mentioned that to both him and Ezra a little while ago.

' Yes indeed. We should start the journey after lunch. I think we'll need strength for walking,' Luke said. ' Got food anyone?'

* * *

Luckily, Hera had the foresight to bring enough rations to Yavin 4. The Ghost was stocked with fruits and all kinds of food bought from Lothal, ranging from sandwiches to biscuits.

While eating, Kanan and Ezra agreed to join the New Jedi Order, only under the condition that the Ghost crew would not get disbanded. The solution was quite simple. Luke proposed weekend holidays for Kanan and Ezra, where they could just fly around and get quality time with their friends. But on weekdays, they would have to be training others all day long.

Ahsoka agreed to stay there permanently, because she had nowhere else to go. And she requested for alterations on the Jedi Code, including banning the no-attachement order, in which Luke agreed (that made Anakin and Ghost-Anakin quite happy).

Little young Caleb volunteered to help with basic lightsaber sparring during his short term of stay. Ahsoka sweet-talked Anakin into agreeing to teach the basics of Form V to the new younglings.

Then, Ezra realised suddenly, ' Wait, Luke. We need new members in order to expand this Order. But how are we going to look for Force-sensitives? They are quite wide-spread into the world.'

' Ah,' Luke smiled. ' About that. Leia has agreed to help me go around to look for Force-sensitive individuals whenever she has time. It won't be hard. I have tried training her to use basic Force-abilities, such as lifting things, Force-sense and how to use a Force-bond.'

' Does she want to train as a Jedi?' Kanan asked.

' Nah. She doesn't really like fighting. She prefers diplomatic stuff and negotiating, but her Force-abiltiies are really good, particularly her Force-sense. I think she can sense Force-sensitive individuals accurately,' Luke explained. ' With suitable persuasion of parents, I think they will allow their kids to be trained.'

' Ah, she takes after her mother,' Ahsoka answered, noticing the curious look of Anakin. It was until then she realised that they hadn't even told him that he also had a daughter besides a son.

It seemed like Luke noticed Anakin's look too, because he hastily added, ' Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Leia and I are twins. She is also your daughter.'

Ezra and Caleb laughed out loud at Anakin's totally befuddled look.

' How will your sister bring in Force-sensitives though?' Kanan pointed out.

' Yeah, we discussed the small details, and we came up to the conclusion that every Thursday, she would bring along a couple Force-sensitive children to be trained with the help of the Millennium Falcon. We will also have Parents Day and Visit Day, so it is definitely better than the Imperial Academy,' Luke said.

Zeb spoke up (the rest of the Crew were so quiet that they nearly forgot their existence), ' Uh, we can also help look out for new initiates.'

' I can help them out! You'll need someone who uses the Force to help you,' Ezra piped up.

' Good. It seems like we are starting to have a plan of what we are going to do,' Luke smiled serenely.

Suddenly, another bluish Force-ghost appeared next to where Ghost-Anakin was sitting. It was old Obi-wan Kenobi.

' Hello there, _old man_ ,' Ghost-Anakin grimaced. ' How was your trip with Master Yoda?'

' Absolutely wonderful,' Obi-wan announced happily. ' We had such an awesome time. Not a bad place. I wish I had gone there for exile instead of Tatooine. All the sand gets into my eyes. Now... What's this little gathering over here?'

' M-m-master?' Anakin gawked at the ghostly form of his former Master.

Obi-wan squinted at him, ' What? Two Skywalkers here? Oh, what have I done?'

' There are three, Old Ben,' Luke counted.

' Oh, whatever. My math is terrible.'

' Master... What has happened to you... You are so old!' Anakin blurted out before he could stop himself. It sounded rather rude.

' Gah!' Obi-wan shook his head. ' One does not need constant reminders that I am old. Please.'

' Because you are old,' Ghost-Anakin insisted.

' I was 57 when you killed me!' Obi-wan argued. ' It's not old!'

' You look old,' Ghost-Anakin said.

' Those Tatooine sand made me old!' Obi-wan snapped.

At the sight of the two Force-Ghosts bickering, Ahsoka couldn't help but smile.

 **AAAAAAH! I AM SO EXCITED! XD**

 **Spoiler alert, if you haven't seen the trailer yet, I advise you don't look at the enormous amount of fangirling below. Once you have seen it, you can read below and see if you share my same emotions ;) Here it goes:**

 **I SIMPLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY! THE TRAILER IS SO PERFECT THAT I WANT TO CRY! I WANT TO WATCH IT BUT AT THE SAME TIME I FEAR THE FATE OF MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS!**

 **LOTS OF CHARACTERS! LOTS OF STUFF! ALL OF THAT ARE ENOUGH TO MAKE ME CRY! THEY EVEN USED AHSOKA'S THEME! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!**

 **And I can't believe they actually made a holo of Anakin Skywalker! And was that Matt Lanter's voice when Vader spoke to Ahsoka? I nearly cried when I heard what he said! *someone hand me ten boxes of tissues, but that still won't be enough because I am crying out a river of tears* Please let it be Matt Lanter's voice!**

 **Ezra! NOOOOOOOOO!**

 **Okay. That's enough. *stops sobbing* I don't know. I think my plan for today will be watching the trailer repetitively until I get bored (which I won't in a billion years). Anyone who feels the same as I do? Feel free to tell me what you think ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Forgive me, but I am still too emotionally unstable and slightly giddy... I was trying to drown my Star Wars feels and sorrows by reading fan fiction, writing fan fiction, searching for fan art and drawing fan art the entire weekend XD Obviously it gave me even more feels.**

After lunch, the group followed the coordinates R2 had given them and tried to track down the very old Alliance building.

The journey wasn't dull, because Obi-wan decided to join them temporarily and was bickering with Ghost-Anakin all the way non-stop about age differences and height differences. Caleb gave occasional comments. Luke and Ahsoka chatted with Ezra, Sabine, Hera, Zeb and Kanan about random things in order to kill time. Anakin was trying his very best to ignore 3PO, who was ranting to him about how annoying R2 was ( ' _Oh Master Ani, you must tell R2 to stop rambling on to me!'_ ). R2 and Chopper were arguing about certain things in high-pitched Binary, which went something like this:

' _Sheesh, I am a better astromech.'_

 _' No! I am a better one! I have many functions, like scanners, built-in electric pike and I can fly!'_

 _' I can fly too!'_

That was probably why Anakin was so thankful when they finally arrived, because all the bickering around him drove him crazy.

The Alliance Building was massive (though not as big as the old Jedi Temple) and had three floors including the rooftop. In his head, Luke already made the calculations of how things would work for his brand new Jedi Order. The rooms above the building would serve as living quarters, and hopefully, they could find a place to serve as a kitchen or refreshers. There was a vacant lot directly outside the entrance (or at least it looked like an entrance, because it was just a jagged hole in the cement wall), which would be the training ground. Great.

They pushed past the tall weeds and ventured into the building. The interior was nowhere as luxurious as the old Temple, Ahsoka noticed, but it was an adequate living place. The ground floors hosted rooms that looked like storage rooms and conference rooms and of all things in the world, there was a small holochess table at the corner. ' Yes! Holochess!' Zeb said.

Located around the entrance, were two elevators, one on the left and the other on the right. Caleb had cautiously pressed the button to check if it was in working order. Surprisingly, it still worked. Well, except for the puff of smoke that blew in Caleb's face, otherwise, it was fine.

Luke decided to separate people into different pairs to explore the place. Sabine and Hera would be to explore the area surrounding the building. Zeb and Ezra would explore the ground floor and check out the storage rooms. Kanan and Caleb would look at the first floor. Ghost-Anakin and Obi-wan were assigned to explore the second floor (none of them were happy with the arrangement but didn't want to complain). Luke along with R2, Chopper and 3PO would look at the third floor. Ahsoka and Anakin would look at the rooftop.

And so they separated.

* * *

' This place is so dull,' Sabine wrinkled her nose, while examining the nondescript coloured walls. ' Not even a blotch of colour upon all these green and grey!'

' Forget about the colours! Come here,' Hera said, trying to get a better look around the corner. ' Junk is lying all around, so be careful. Didn't they evacuate all the stuff? Oh and remind me to tell Luke that we seriously need to weed this place. Vines and random weeds are growing everywhere. Once we clear up all those weeds in the backyard, I think we can even build a mini hangar.'

Sabine answered, ' Fine, coming.' But her hands automatically went to the orange coloured spray paint can attached to her belt (so she could draw everywhere) and with well practiced ease, she drew one of her signature starbirds onto the wall, except it was a couple times larger than her usual versions.

Hera had already heard the familiar spray painting sounds of _pttttttt_ but it was too late. ' Sabine,' She sighed. ' Can't you just leave the poor walls alone?'

' What?' She exclaimed. ' Can't you see how lively the place is now with the help of colour? I'm going to paint a couple more of these to brighten up the place later. Maybe even a pink one.'

' Suuuuuuuure.'

* * *

' Remind me again why we are together?' Ezra complained.

' It wasn't my idea, kid,' Zeb snapped. ' Remember, we got paired up. I'd rather pair up with dear old Chopper than you, mister.'

' Gee, thanks,' Ezra rolled his eyes sarcastically and ran his fingers over the dust covered wall of the storeroom. Even though they made peace with each other years ago in Kothal, they still bickered from time to time.

' Honestly there is nothing special with this place,' Zeb commented, moving over to the holochess table. ' Well, except for holochess.'

' Move along,' Ezra jostled at Zeb. ' You are squashing me!'

' No I'm not! Move away!' The two fought for space in the cramped area between the holochess table and some abandoned crates of scrap metal. Zeb purposefully tripped Ezra over with his foot and Ezra toppled to the floor. He raised his hand to press to the wall for support and hauled himself up.

' You are insufferable, I-' Ezra never got to finish his sentence, because a booming sound interrupted him. The flimsy part of the wall where his hand made contact with simply cracked and fell down onto the floor, revealing a secret room.

* * *

' This place doesn't look as posh as our old Temple,' Caleb said truthfully, observing the cobwebs on top of a room. ' I think Master Skywalker should at least get some cleaners to dust this place up.'

Kanan grimaced. He had been tolerating Caleb's comments for the last few minutes, because the boy kept commenting on differences. It wasn't that Caleb liked to complain or rant, but he wasn't quite used to living anywhere else besides the comfortable Coruscant Temple. Everything was just so different and old.

His attention was brought back when he saw what the young boy was trying to do. Caleb was trying to remove the cobweb from the ceiling with the help of the Force, and the entire piece of thing wobbled above. ' Be careful, boy,' Kanan said in horror.

' Excuse me? What-' Caleb's concentration slipped for a fleeting second, and it was enough time for the cobweb to fall down onto Kanan's face.

' Sorry!' Caleb squeaked.

* * *

' Stop disappearing or trying to haunt people, Old Man!' Ghost-Anakin face-palmed as Obi-wan disappeared. ' You are freaking me out!'

' You can do that too, you are a ghost,' Obi-wan retorted. ' That's not so freaky.'

' But that doesn't mean you need to do that all the time! My son asked us to look around, not finding opportunities to test our ghostly abilities,' Ghost-Anakin snorted. ' Go ahead and try haunt Master Yoda instead.'

' Oh yes I tried,' Obi-wan said. ' But it didn't work.'

' Seriously? I thought you of all people would be more mature,' Anakin rubbed his throbbing temples at the sight of his stubborn old friend.

' You are such a spoilsport,' Obi-wan pouted. ' Come on then, let's get going. We need to report our findings to your beloved son.'

 **Hello! :)**

 **Yeah, I'm still very excited. I don't think this excitement will vanish yet. Things may seem rather bleak, but I still believe Ahsoka would survive Season 2 due to many reasons. XD I'd write an essay about why I think she will survive if I can.**

 **Whoop whoop already anticipating Wednesday's arrival, where we can see Princess Leia! Yay!**

 **Just curious, has anyone seen the Saturday Night Live Kylo Ren version Undercover Boss? It is so funny! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you to watch it if you like the Force Awakens movie! *Matt the radar technician* hahaha! XD Feel free to tell me what you think about it!**

 **Yep that's all, thanks so much! Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

' Master Luke, there are about 50 rooms on this floor,' 3PO reported. ' Each quarter has two small bedrooms, a small living area and a shared refresher. Though I am not so sure about the other floors. But I wonder why Princess Leia never told us about this place.'

Luke agreed with 3PO. He wondered why the place was abandoned in the first place. It was an adequate living area with good supplies (except for water source, he might have to ask Leia to seek for help to build a new water source for the refreshers as soon as possible). In his mind, he already made the suitable calculations for the room arrangements. Initiates would live in pairs on the first floor, Masters-Padawan duos and Knights would live on the second, while Masters lived on the third. All so easy.

R2 wheeled around and nudged Luke on his knee. ' Of course,' Luke laughed. ' You can share a quarter with 3PO. We have plenty of room.'

' What?' 3PO said, horrified. ' There is no way I will share a room with this pompous droid.'

R2 made an indignant noise.

' Don't you say that!' 3PO snapped.' Dear old Chopper would never say that to me. You are a rude droid, R2.'

Chopper sniggered, which further angered R2.

' Guys, don't fight,' Luke tried separating Chopper and R2, but it didn't really work, because the droids were already exchanging death threats with each other in rapid Binary, while 3PO gave occasional exclamations.

' Oh, someone save me,' He groaned. He wondered how Leia survived all these years with these two droids bickering around (now they have Chopper).

* * *

' It's beautiful, isn't it?' Ahsoka sat on the ledge of the rooftop, completely unfazed by the fact that she was so high above in the sky.

' Yeah. Lots of green. We've never been to Yavin for missions,' Anakin murmured. ' I wonder why.'

' This rooftop is spacious. We can even turn this into a playground or rooftop garden,' Ahsoka suggested.

' Yeah.'

The silence was horribly awkward. It was until Anakin blurted out a question that he had been pondering over for quite some while, ' Ahsoka, why did you leave?'

' What?' Ahsoka froze, realising how much it mirrored... a long time ago...

 _Ahsoka, why did you leave? Do you know what I have become?_

She remembered this all too well. Vader had used their extremely ancient Force-bond (so ancient Ahsoka was sure it had snapped, but it turned out it hadn't yet) to channel that question to her right before their duel. Fortunately, Ahsoka had the time to jump away from the duel and survived it with just the minimal amounts of scratches and cuts.

' I am not sure whether you have told me last time,' He said, slightly embarrassed by his memory loss even though he would never admit it to Obi-wan. ' But I still want to know.'

Ahsoka thought about the question for a while. If someone had asked her the same question before she called herself Fulcrum, she would reply, ' _I have contributed a lot to them yet they still don't trust me. What is the point in staying? They don't even want to apologise.'_

But over years of careful consideration, added with constant meditations over what Barriss had said a long time ago, she came up with the conclusion that the years of battling and getting submerged in the Dark Side had gotten the Order corrupted, or at least blinded. As she had told Ezra, those beliefs she had once so treasured didn't actually work for her. What if it was the same for the entire Jedi Order? So it was a good timing for her to leave.

' Jedi lifestyle didn't suit me,' She answered calmly. ' I have already been thinking of leaving.'

' Oh.'

She allowed herself to stare at the thicket of trees below, but her moment of peace was interrupted when the near transparent head of Ghost-Anakin bobbed up next to her feet, as if the concrete ground was water.

' Ah! Don't do that, please!' Ahsoka shrieked, jumping a few miles away from Ghost-Anakin's ghostly head. Anakin just stared at his ghostly self in abject horror.

' Sorry about that, Obi-wan convinced me to do that,' Ghost-Anakin replied with a grimace. ' Anyways, go down to the ground floor. That Ezra boy reckoned he has found himself a secret cellar.'

* * *

They gathered curiously around the cellar Ezra had found. The small hole in the wall led down to an extremely narrow staircase down into a very dark room. It was impossible to see in there, so in the end, Caleb cheerfully volunteered to go down to have a look, with the help of the light from his blue lightsaber.

Everyone waited nervously. It was not like they feared that there would be some kind of monster down there, but young Caleb wasn't especially trustworthy when it came to delicate missions like that. Kanan was still scowling. White bits - remnants of the cobweb still littered the top of his head and he was extremely grumpy when Hera mentioned that to him.

Soon enough, Caleb's rather sooty face showed up at the entrance, still holding his lightsaber next to his face. ' You won't believe this!' He exclaimed. Before they could ask him what was down there, he disappeared again, and the next time he showed up, he was pushing up cardboard boxes at their feet, prompting them to take a look. Ezra crept down to help move out the boxes.

Ahsoka was the first to notice the insignia branded on the side of the box. Even in a million years she could recognise the logo of the old Jedi Order, but how did the Jedi properties end up in a Rebellion outpost? It was just too curious.

' How...' Kanan gasped, and opened the first of the boxes.

' These are training droids,' Luke picked up a metallic, spherical object. ' Ben used one of these to train my lightsaber skills.'

Ghost-Anakin looked surprised. ' But... I didn't know that we had an outpost on Yavin 4. Old man, did you know?'

' What? I didn't know!' Obi-wan exclaimed. ' How am I supposed to know where we keep our outposts? Master Yoda and Master Windu kept track of them, not me.'

' But you are on the Council! How can you be so ignorant? I can't believe this!' Ghost-Anakin complained.

Ezra waved a hand in front of the two's face, ' Let's not worry about where these come from first. Maybe we will have an answer when we ask Leia. But for now, these training droids will help us a lot. Let's look at the other boxes.'

' That's all,' Caleb gestured to the rather impressive pile of boxes lying on the floor (there must have been 50 or more of those large boxes). ' Let's unwrap our presents, everyone.'

The more boxes they opened, the more shocked they were. Somehow, old archive books about lightsaber and meditative techniques were perfectly preserved. ' What?' Ahsoka picked up a thick hard-back book. ' I thought this was gone for sure in the Purge!' The book was called ' Jar'Kai from scratch'.

Ghost-Anakin's eyes widened, ' How did all of these get here? There is no way someone can get into there. The Temple is stationed with stormtroopers 24/7 in every corner imaginable, how can someone sneak into the Temple and get all these stuff?'

' Stormtroopers are stupid,' Obi-wan said. ' Who even trains them?'

' Ditto,' Ahsoka agreed. ' They never actually hit anything with their silly blasters. So it isn't much of a surprise if there are security leaks, but I am just curious who is daring enough to venture into the Temple.'

' Whatever, for the time being, let's find a place to store these stuff.'

 **Okay... :D Guesses for how these Jedi stuff popped up? XD**

 **I'll see if I can update soon, because I have this quiz coming up next week. Well, it is a quiz, but extremely tricky to revise. :/**

 **Thanks for reading! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Brrr... It's cold!**

If Luke were to write down a bucket list of what supplies he sorely needed, it would take a billion pages.

When they realised that the lights weren't working at dinner, he mentally marked 'electricity' down in his head. They resorted to using their lightsabers as lights (inspired by Caleb), so the blue, green and silvery white light glowed on them while they munched on 'delicious' ration bars.

Hera, Sabine and Zeb decided to retreat back to the Ghost for bed, and promised they would come back next morning. Caleb was kind enough to lend them his lightsaber as a lamp and Obi-wan casted the kid a look that clearly said ' your lightsaber is your life, you can't just go giving it around like that', but no one cared.

Ghost-Anakin and Obi-wan just disappeared into the dark trees like magic, merging into the shades. Seconds before Obi-wan disappeared, Ezra swore he heard Obi-wan mutter to Ghost-Anakin, ' Hurry up, promised Master Yoda I'd return at 10 to play bingo. We're already late. He's not going to be happy.'

Then, everyone who remained picked up their glowing lightsabers and went to random rooms on the first floor, too tired to figure out which belonged to who. Once Luke closed his bedroom door, he positioned his lightsaber right onto a small bedside table and held out his portable holoprojector to call up Leia.

Fortunately, Leia hadn't gone to sleep yet, because she picked up the call on the second set of rings. ' Hi Leia, how are you?' Leia was sporting her trademark hair buns. Luke didn't think he had ever seen the hairstyle again since the Death Star one rescue.

' Oh, hello Luke!' She said breathlessly. ' What a wonderful day! They have great plans to restore the Republic! We are going to start by changing the Imperial City back into a Republic City, for citizens to live in! We are going to reform the Galactic Senate, and-'

' Woah, woah,' Luke said. ' Slow down! That's a lot of stuff! How did you people discuss so many stuff in just a few hours?'

' Not really,' Leia answered. ' We have been discussing the whole day, from morning to now. I have just been dismissed from the meeting.'

' Wait, what? I thought Han said he would go pick you up from the meeting in the morning, not at night,' Luke noted, puzzled.

' Uhhhh,' Leia scratched her head. ' We kind of got carried away and plus, we had a lot to discuss. So we decided to extend the meeting.'

' By that many hours?' Luke joked. ' Poor Han. Where was he this whole day then? Moping around his beloved Millennium Falcon with Chewie?'

' Nah. They wouldn't let him. Lando decided he was too detached from politics, so he forced Han to sit in the meeting room throughout the entire thing, though Chewie was exempted.'

' Oh great, Lando is in all this again.'

' Of course he is. He is one of the Generals of the Alliance. He prefers smuggling and gambling around, but Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar made him attend.'

' I see.'

' Anyways... Let's stop talking about dear Han or Lando. Where are you actually? It's so dark in wherever place you are, and all those green... Is that your lightsaber? Has something happened?' Leia squinted and tried to look behind Luke, as if expecting that someone would pop out.

' Yeah, about that. This is the room of my new quarters. As for the lightsaber, it's too dark so I am relying the green light from my lightsaber to see. Kanan, Ezra and Ahsoka have agreed to help us out... And a couple others, but that is a long story. We found an abandoned fortress that used to belong to the Rebel Alliance,' Luke explained. ' It's got the Starbird insignia.'

' Really?' Leia's eyes lit up in recognition. ' You mean... That really old one on the far edge of the Yavin 4 forest, a couple hundred miles or something from the original Rebel base?'

' Yeah. And guess what we found in the basement? Jedi training equipment,' Luke said. ' Do you have any idea why there are Jedi training equipment in an old Rebel fortress especially at the Empire times? And do you know why it was abandoned in the first place.'

' I have absolutely no idea,' Leia replied. ' But I can ask Mon Mothma about that later. She and my, er, former father were the ones to organise rebel bases. No matter what, that fortress should be rather old. I wouldn't be surprised there aren't any resources at all. What's missing?'

' Electricity, water source and food.'

' That'll need some time, but anything for my dear brother,' Leia smiled. ' What about I pop over first thing tomorrow? I can go rally up some workers to settle things for you, so you can go rebuild your Order in peace.'

' That would be wonderful, thanks so much.'

' No problem. I had better go, or else Han breaks some stuff again,' Leia looked over her shoulder. ' Oh no, he has ended up in some kind of bantering with Lando again. Gotta go!' And she was gone.

Luke set down the holoprojector onto the desktop, and extinguished his lightsaber. Thankfully, the place has blankets (probably need cleaning as well), but Luke decided to just sleep on top of it. He quickly fell asleep, in order to get ready for the long day ahead.

* * *

They had a nutritious breakfast. Ahsoka whipped up a giant fruit salad with the fruits Hera brought over in just a minute.

' Never thought we can make fruit salad,' Sabine said with her mouth full.

' Of course, Ahsoka has been taught how to make meals with limited food resources during the Clone Wars,' Anakin explained. ' Better than worms, I think.'

With a tiny flash, Ghost-Anakin and Obi-wan appeared once again next to Luke.

' Hey there, we're back,' Ghost-Anakin trilled cheerfully. ' What's up? Ooh, fruit salad.'

' Hey, Master Kenobi,' Ezra waved. ' What's with the bingo party yesterday?'

Obi-wan seemed a little surprised, but he said, ' Ohhh, it was horrible. We were late. And Master Yoda just whacked us around with his gimer stick, shouting, " Late, you are! Late, you are!" So we didn't do much yesterday.'

Kanan had no idea whether that was true, but Obi-wan's eyes glittered, as if daring him to disagree with him.

Luke quickly waved his hand, ' Okay, that's not the point. By the way, Leia has offered to bring some workers to help us settle stuff, like water resources and electricity. How's that?'

' Ohh, that would be nice. I'd like a shower,' Caleb piped up.

' What do you want a shower for?' Kanan stared.

' Uhh... To shower?' Caleb stared back. ' What else? I haven't showered for a day.'

' What's the problem with not showering for a day? I think the last time we showered was the time on the Rebel base in that public bathroom. Half a month ago?'

' WHAT? How can that be?' Caleb gasped in horror.

Zeb, Sabine and Hera looked between Kanan and Caleb, starting to sense something was off about Caleb. Sabine whispered in Ezra's ear, ' Am I the only one to think that young Kanan is completely different from older Kanan?'

' No, you're not,' Ezra assured. ' Caleb is very different indeed.'

' They are the same person, shouldn't they be a carbon copy of each other?' Zeb joined in secretly.

' Uh-uh. Not really,' Ezra shook his head.

 **Yay! :D Thanks for reading! It's going to be quite cold these few days, so everyone remember to stay warm and take care! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

' What? The Princess is coming here? To Yavin?' Ezra repeated.

Anakin gulped, ' My... Other daughter?'

Luke rolled his eyes, ' No, the very friendly Wookie that does ballet. Yes, your daughter of course! She's coming to give us a bit of help. She should be coming soon, I can sense it.'

' Ooh, a Princess?' Caleb said in awe while Kanan face-palmed in secret. ' I've never seen a Princess before. Is she beautiful? Is she nice? Does she have very magical powers as well? Can she fly? I heard Ashla say that to Zett the other day.'

' Er,' Luke said, slightly taken back.

' Does she have a Prince? I heard that Princesses always have a Prince, maybe-'

' Okay, enough with the Princess talk, Caleb,' Ahsoka obviously scented danger in the air (Kanan was totally embarrassed that his face was turning a blotchy shade of red and purple). ' You'll see when Leia arrives.'

Obi-wan snorted at Ghost-Anakin, ' Your daughter isn't going to be happy when she sees you. Let's take you back home to Master Yoda, so we can play bingo in peace.'

' What?' Ghost-Anakin argued. ' What's the problem?'

' Just your presence, duh,' Obi-wan said. ' Don't forget that she still hates you a lot for blowing up her home planet.'

' It was that stupid idiot Tarkin's idea, not mine!' Ghost-Anakin yelped. ' Hey!'

' Oh, what about the time you set an interrogation droid on her?'

' I-It... Wasn't my idea! Blame Tarkin!'

' Oh then, was it Tarkin's idea to stuff Han in carbonite then? Mind you, Tarkin was already dead, so don't you dare blame that on him.'

' At least Han didn't die! This doesn't count!'

' Anyways, don't you remember the last time you showed up in the middle of Luke's bedroom when she was around? She threw a hairbrush through your head-'

' I...'

' And the other time she tried to kick you out of the window.'

' No, but-'

The others watched the verbal battle between the ghosts in amusement, until 3PO cried out, ' Oh, goodness, Master Luke! There are many ships in the air!'

And indeed there was. Four enormous supply cruisers were hovering lazily in the sky, with a couple X-wing star fighters trailing behind. ' Seriously, X-wings?' Luke shouted into the sky. ' There isn't even a space battle!'

The cruisers landed somewhere behind the new 'Temple', probably crushing a lot of innocent trees and weeds (Obi-wan winced) during the process while they watched on. Then, people started to emerge, and the first to reach them was Leia herself.

Her hair was in a simple, thick braid and she threw her arms around Luke. Once they pulled away, she smiled at her twin brother, ' How's everything going?'

' Great,' Luke answered. ' Leia... I did ask for help... But... What are the X-wing star fighters doing here though?'

' Ah yes, I went around looking for helpers, and the Red Squadron and some other technicians are perfectly fine with helping out, so here they are. Wedge insisted on bringing their fighters,' Leia explained, then her smile faded when she noticed Ghost-Anakin next to Luke.

' What is he doing here?' Leia pulled Luke away and hissed at him.

' Come on, Leia, he is still our father,' Luke tried to reason with her. ' He has been redeemed, and it is all thanks to him that I am still on my feet alive-'

' Fine! He is our father! But I will never forget all the things he did. He destroyed my home planet, interrogated me with that torture droid and not to mention, stuck Han in carbonite!'

' _It was Tarkin's idea,'_ Luke muttered under his breath.

' What?' Leia said sharply.

' Anyways... please bear with him for a while,' Luke pleaded. ' He won't be that bad, I promise.'

Leia calmed down a bit, ' Fine. Just for you, Luke. But I won't forgive him just yet.'

' Nice.'

' Okay. Come over here, then, Wedge and the others should be unloading the things...'

The Red Squadron commander bounded excitedly over to Luke, ' Hey there, Luke!'

' Wedge! How nice to see you again!' Luke shook the man's hand.

' Heard you need some help over here,' Wedge nodded at the direction where some Rebel Alliance officers were bearing boxes of tools. ' We'll fix up the electricity in a jiffy. Then, we'll see what we can do with the water source.'

' Thanks so much Wedge, I really appreciate it,' Luke replied, and Wedge popped back to work with his friends.

' Luke, old pal!' Han came bounding over. ' Haven't seen you in ages!'

Luke stared at him weirdly, ' We met just yesterday.'

' Just pulling a friendly joke, man,' Han patted Luke on the shoulder. ' So... I'm here to help as well! With the technical stuff, and in case things go wrong.' And he spotted Ghost-Anakin as well. ' Oh, great. Vader is here as well, with dear old Ben. And who's that?' He pointed at Anakin, who was standing close to Ghost-Anakin.

' That... Is a long story. But he is Anakin Skywalker, from the Clone Wars ages,' Luke said, and explained the entire thing as briefly to the pair as possible.

' Time travel,' Han said in awe. ' It's amazing. But pal, dealing with one Vader is enough. I don't need two Vaders to illuminate my day.'

' He is not Vader,' Luke corrected. ' He's Anakin.'

' Whatever you say, kid,' Han shrugged. ' Now let's get working, shall we? Got lots to do. Are your friends willing to help as well?'

' Of course.'

* * *

It was a busy day.

Luke and the Red Squadron helped with fixing the electricity issues. Leia, Han, Chewie and the technicians tried tapping in water sources, but something went haywire, because Matt (the new technician) flipped a wrong switch. Fortunately, the potential disaster was averted. Ahsoka and Anakin arranged books and managed to turn a dusty store room into a mini archive. R2, 3PO and chopper dusted the place. Zeb, Sabine and Hera cut away the looming weeds to clear space for a hangar. Kanan, Ezra and Caleb tidied the quarters.

By the end of the day, everyone was aching all over and very tired. But Wedge managed to get the lights working, so everyone gathered at the makeshift dining room in a food storage room for dinner. Leia brought enough sandwiches and juice for everyone.

Luke went outside into the dark to have a walk after finishing his own portion of food. He nearly dropped his glass of blue milk in shock when Han put a hand on his shoulder from behind suddenly. ' Hey, kid, care to talk for a while?'

' What is it?'

' Er... I want to ask you about something.'

' Like... What?'

' Er.'

' Spit it out, pal.'

' I've been wanting to ask you about this for quite some while, but I don't know if you will... But... Yeah, er...'

' Really, Han. Say whatever you want! Spit it out!'

' You are Leia's brother, right?'

' Er, yeah?'

' I'm asking you for permission for Leia's hand in marriage,' Han said seriously.

Luke spluttered and spat out the drink in his mouth.

 **Tada! XD**

 **Does anyone notice Matt the Technician lurking amongst the shadows? I really hope that Matt the Technician would be canon, and that would be interesting. Does anyone agree with me? ;) My friend and I really like that skit, so we ran around the classroom screaming, ' HI, I'M MATT, THE RADAR TECHNICIAN' and no one understood us! XD**


	11. Chapter 11

The Ghost Crew were all extremely interested at talking to Caleb, seeing that the young boy was so different from his older self (much to Kanan's dismay). For Hera, she was interested at seeing a young carefree Kanan. For Sabine, Caleb was a sweet young boy. To Zeb, Caleb was hilarious. As for Chopper... He was just interested.

' Okay Caleb, can you tell us about yourself? Perhaps, your hobbies and other interests?' Hera asked kindly.

Caleb swallowed a large bite of his tenth peanut butter sandwich and paused for a moment to think. Then, he answered, ' Well, I don't really have any hobbies except lightsaber sparring and going on missions with Master Billaba. I guess playing with the clones are kind of fun as well.'

Once Kanan got out of earshot to grab himself another sandwich (they had plenty of extras, because Matt insisted on bringing his own muffins), Sabine questioned, ' Caleb, what do you think about your older self?'

' You mean? Kanan? Oh man, he is so cool, he is totally my role model,' Caleb beamed. ' This sounds wrong and is kind of narcissistic, but that's exactly what I want to be when I grow up. I wanna be a great Jedi like Master Billaba, I wanna go on missions on my own, and I'd definitely like to take a Padawan. I wanna be just like him! I can't wait to grow up so I can go finish the Trials immediately and get Knighted. I can't wait!' He said that all at once.

' Wow,' Zeb said, stifling a laugh. ' You really like Kanan.'

' Of course! I like Older-me!' Caleb puffed out his chest proudly. ' He's my hero!'

Hera and Sabine bursted out laughing at the young boy's loud announcement. Then, Kanan was back holding a sandwich, ' What's going on? Has someone told a joke?'

' Oh, yes,' Sabine wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. ' Yes, a really, really good one.'

* * *

' How did you and Leia know each other?' Ezra asked Ahsoka.

' Hm,' Ahsoka picked at her food. ' We've known each other for a looooooong time.'

' Yeah, when I first joined the Rebellion at around 14 years old, my adopted father introduced me to quite a lot of officials in the system. Ahsoka was one of the few I got to know at that time,' Leia explained. ' We became friends pretty quickly, because we are similar in many ways.'

' Our fiery temper,' Ahsoka provided.

' And also our strong, mutual dislike for Tarkin,' Leia added.

' Well said, my friend, well said,' Ahsoka laughed.

Ezra remembered the man all too well. He hated him. A lot. ' Well, I didn't know dear Mr. Tarkin had so many haters,' He smirked. ' Though I haven't heard from him in such a long time. Where is he now?'

' He was still on the Death Star number one when Luke blew the thing up,' Ahsoka said thoughtfully. ' I felt it through the Force.'

' Ah, that's very unfortunate,' Leia shook her head, but she didn't sound genuinely sorry.

They bursted out laughing.

' Anyways... Where is Luke and Han?' Leia looked around. ' They are missing this whole time.'

' There he is,' Ezra pointed out. And sure enough, Luke crept back into the room, and immediately scuttled over to where Ghost-Anakin, Anakin and Obi-wan were sitting together. He whispered something into Ghost-Anakin's ear.

Ghost-Anakin seemed to look a bit confused. Luke muttered something and then, both Anakins, alive or not, rose up to follow Luke outside.

' Now that's weird,' Ahsoka commented. ' Where are they going?'

* * *

' No,' Luke quickly held up a hand to defend himself. ' That's not my decision to make. Ask someone else.'

' What?' Han argued. ' You are Leia's brother. You have the right to.'

' I am just older than her by minutes, Han,' Luke stared at him. ' Besides, I am just her brother. Who am I to make such an important decision? Besides, traditionally, a man should ask the lady's father for her hand in marriage, not brother. So I suggest you go ask my father instead.'

' Vader?' Han said, aghast. ' There's no way he'd let me.'

' Relax, man,' Luke waved him off. ' He's okay. He has been redeemed, so he is quite soft right now.'

' Dude, that is Vader you are talking about. The one that stuck me in carbonite and nearly got you killed.'

' You'll have to ask him,' Luke tried to put a little bit of persuasion into his words.

After a while of Luke's careful coaxing, Han gave up, ' Fine. That'll work. But you must guarantee I won't die.'

' He's a ghost. He can't do anything to you.'

' Fair enough.'

' I'll call out my father and you can talk to him face to face. Is that okay?'

' Fine...'

' And... Don't call him Mr. Vader. I don't think he likes that.'

* * *

' So,' Ghost-Anakin said, totally confused. ' What's the matter?' They were standing outside in the dark, with only the faint bluish glow coming from his ghostly self to serve as illumination. Next to him, Anakin looked plain curious.

Luke cleared his throat, ' Father, this is Han Solo. Do you remember a Han Solo?'

' Han Solo...' Ghost-Anakin repeated, and realisation dawned on him. ' Oh... wait... Boba Fett... You are that guy... In the carbonite.' Han winced.

' Yes,' Luke said eagerly.

' And that guy... Who flew the Millennium Falcon?' Ghost-Anakin peered at Han. ' Right, you are that Han Solo in the Rebellion that my daughter likes. What's up?'

' Er, Han here something important to discuss with you, I'll leave you two, er I mean three to talk about,' Luke finished with an encouraging smile and slid away.

' Mr V-Skywalker,' Han said seriously. ' You know, I really like your daughter. I just want to know... If I can marry her.'

Ghost-Anakin and Anakin looked at each other, secretly verifying that they weren't hearing things. Anakin's eyes widened to the size of saucers. ' Er,' he coughed, ' this doesn't really concern me, because at my time, Padme isn't pregnant yet, so it is up to you, Dead-me.'

Ghost-Anakin sent him a 'traitor' glare, and gave a nervous laugh. This was too weird. One second his daughter hated him so much, the next second he was in charge of his daughter's destiny. He was so flattered and nervous at the same time.

He quickly connected to Luke via the Force, ' _Son! Are you sure you didn't set me up?'_

After a small pause, Luke answered, ' _Of course not, Father! It's true!'_

 _' Now, do I have to answer him?'_ Ghost-Anakin panicked.

' _Oh yes, you have to,'_ Luke pressed on.

 _' Fine, Son.'_

It seemed like all attention was landed on him. He had never been so pressurised before. Anakin was trying to guess his response intently, while Han just looked at him nervously. Through the Force, he could tell that Luke was sensing his decision with bated breath. Ghost-Anakin thought.

First thing up, he needed to seek for Leia's favour. If he declined Han, Leia would hate him forever. But if he agreed... Maybe his daughter would forgive him at last... It wasn't much, but it definitely was something.

Secondly... Leia had many friends or supporters. If he refused, he was pretty sure that Ahsoka, that Ezra boy, Obi-wan Kanan and Luke would never forgive him. He had no intention to live through the next few years with Ahsoka berating and glaring at him angrily or Obi-wan giving him one of his best Negotiator deadpan stares. No.

Lastly, Han wouldn't be a bad son-in-law, honestly. Even as Darth Vader, he learnt to admire the boy's flying skills (grudgingly, of course, seeing that he was involved in the Rebellion and was personally responsible for the Death Star One's destruction). Besides, Han and Leia would be a nice couple, so why not?

' Yeah,' He said finally. ' You have my blessing, er, Ben?'

' Han,' Han said. ' My name is Han.'

Ghost-Anakin mentally kicked himself (his awesome memory). Ben was Obi-wan's hermit name. Wrong one! ' Yes, Han Solo, you have my blessing to marry, er, Leia!'

Han breathed out in relief, and his face shone with happiness and excitement, ' Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Skywalker!'

 _Good job,_ Luke mumbled.

Ghost-Anakin nodded, ' You are welcome, young man. But promise me you won't hurt her in any way, because I am perfectly happy to search out another carbon-freezing chamber, just for you.'

Han gulped.

 **Yay ;)**

 **I am so happy because I found out that one of my teammates is a Clone Wars and SWR fan as well! XD I discovered just by chance...**

 **Me: (thinks: _feels kind of awkward, let me ask her something)_ Er so... Do you like watching any animated shows?**

 **Teammate 2: Uh, I don't really watch much TV, but I like Clone Wars.**

 **Me: ASDFGHJKL! Really? You do? Do you like it?**

 **Teammate 2: Er, yeah, it's pretty good.**

 **Me: ASDFGHJKL! Have you seen SWR then?**

 **Teammate 2: Yeah, a couple episodes.**

 **Me: You must finish them! It's so good! Then we can go ahead and discuss the mid season trailer after you finish, also-**

 **Teammate 1: STOP HER! Never mention that fandom in front of her! Stop!**

 **Yeah, you get it. I'm so happy! Finally, someone who can understand my crazy talk... Anyways, gotta go, I have a long day ahead, because I have a team competition. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

' What are you gloating about?' Ahsoka hissed at Ghost-Anakin, while they watched the Alliance ships take off into the night sky.

That was exactly what the others wanted to ask about. Ghost-Anakin was beaming down at them ever so smugly and Anakin just looked a bit happy.

Luke stifled a grin and explained, ' Han just asked Father to let him marry Leia. And Father agreed.'

' WHAT? REALLY?' Ahsoka, Sabine and Hera screamed. _Fangirls,_ Kanan groaned.

' You actually agreed?' Obi-wan poked at his friend. ' Wow. You must be bending over backwards to make Leia forgive you. I applaud you.'

' It's definitely a delightful occasion,' Hera said.

Ahsoka scoffed at Ghost-Anakin, ' Quit gloating around. Sure, you may have agreed to Leia's marriage, but that doesn't mean she will fully forgive you, just to say.'

' That's not much, but that's definitely an excellent improvement,' Ghost-Anakin argued.

' Whatever you say, Skyguy.'

' It's pretty late already,' Ezra said. ' Can we go to bed?'

' Sure.'

* * *

Luke went back to his quarters and a shower in the refresher. Fortunately, the technicians did a great job, the water sources were working perfectly. Leia was thoughtful enough to dish out towels and soaps to each room.

He got out of the refresher just in time to see his holoprojector ringing. Leia must be calling him.

He flicked open the switch, and immediately, Leia's small holo figure appeared. She was looking rather pleased. ' What's up Leia?'

' Do you know what happened?' She asked, unable to hide her excitement.

' What?' Luke feigned innocence.

' That idiot, just asked me to marry him,' She giggled. ' Can you believe that?'

' Oh, that certainly is wonderful,' Luke said sincerely. ' What did you say?'

' At first I thought it was some kind of ridiculous joke,' She shrugged. ' And I called him an idiot.'

' Aw, Leia. You must not be that mean.'

Leia shook her head, ' Well, after a while, he looked so serious. That was when I know he really meant it. Anyways, I agreed to it. And can you believe it? That idiot actually went to Vader to ask for permission. And Vader _agreed.'_

' Well of course! He is our Father. He definitely wants the best for you,' Luke said thoughtfully. ' He agreed because he loves you.'

It seemed like Ghost-Anakin really made a difference, because instead of glowering at him murderously like she did last time, Leia sighed, ' Whatever you say.'

' Though did Han and you talk about where to hold the wedding?' Luke asked worriedly. ' He is not thinking of holding it on board the Falcon, is he? With Chewie as the pastor?'

' No,' Leia laughed. ' We don't really know yet, but if we don't have an exact location, I think the ewoks will be perfectly happy to host the wedding on Endor.'

Luke shivered, imagining the little ewoks making 3PO host the wedding. That would be crazy. Perhaps... ' You know what, I have done so little for you. I'll help you think of a perfect location, how's that?'

' Whatever you want. Anyways... How is everything working? When will your new Order be fully functional?'

' Maybe in a couple days. Why ask?'

' I was thinking I may start helping you look for new initiates,' She winked. ' New Padawans for everything or something. How does this sound?'

' Great, thanks so much, sis,' Luke smiled.

' You are welcome,' Leia said, and she disappeared.

* * *

' Guys, do you know any good places with superb scenery?' Luke asked so abruptly next morning at breakfast, that Ezra and Kanan spewed out cereal at his question.

' Er, good places with superb scenery?' Sabine repeated. ' Nah, definitely not Mandalore. Too much skyscrapers and smoke from all the speeders.'

' I don't suggest Tatooine either,' Ghost-Anakin said, earning him an annoyed glance from Obi-wan. ' All the sand gets everywhere. Why ask though, Son?'

' Leia asked me for good places to hold her wedding,' Luke explained. ' We ran out of good places. So I was wondering if you guys have any better ideas. Few heads are better than one. Because we may have to hold it on the Falcon if we don't have other ideas.'

R2, who had stayed quiet throughout the entire breakfast, started to wobble and whistle at Ghost-Anakin, as if offering some ideas.

' Naboo?' Anakin repeated. ' You mean... The Naberrie lake retreat on Varykino?'

R2 gave out a deafening chirp.

Ghost-Anakin's eyes brightened up, ' The lake retreat! What a wonderful idea, R2. That was the place I married your mother, Luke. It was absolutely a beautiful place. But... I don't know if the place is in use anymore. After all, it belongs to the Naberrie family.'

' I'll confirm that for you,' Ahsoka answered. ' I heard that from Commander Sato the other day, about old families on Naboo. Pooja and Ryoo Naberrie from House Naberrie. Do you remember that?'

' Oh yeah,' Ghost-Anakin nodded in recognition. ' Pooja and Ryoo are the daughters of Sola, who is Padme's sister.'

' They should still be around,' Ahsoka said thoughtfully. ' And Leia should know Pooja, because Pooja also worked in the Imperial Senate for quite a while. They are secret Rebellion sympathisers. Maybe I can contact Pooja or Ryoo. We can ask them to borrow the Naberrie lake retreat for a day or something.'

' Thanks so much, Ahsoka,' Luke said. ' At least we have a matter settled. For now, we need to discuss posts for everyone, now that Leia will be going around searching for potential initiates.'

' I vote you as Grandmaster,' Ahsoka said, not looking up from her food.

' Wait, what?' Luke blabbered. ' I can't be the Grandmaster! I don't have that much experience. Besides-'

' We have to elect a Grandmaster anyways,' Ezra shrugged. ' So why not? I vote for Luke as well.'

' Me too,' Kanan added.

' By an overwhelming count of votes,' Obi-wan boomed. ' Luke Skywalker is henceforth elected as the Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order!'

' _Overwhelming count?'_ Luke argued. ' That is not that, Ben, no-'

Obi-wan deliberately ignored Luke's protests, and looked at him, ' Now, Master Skywalker Jr, will you please elect your Council Members?'

Luke looked as if he had swallowed a lemon, and finally said, ' Fine. I'll do it. Let me see... This will be a mini Council for the time being, unless more people come along. Ahsoka and Kanan, I name you Jedi Masters. As for Ezra, you won't mind being a Jedi knight temporarily, will you? Thank you. Father...'

' Yes?' Both Ghost-Anakin and Anakin answered at the same time.

Luke rubbed his temple, ' I mean, the alive one, sorry, can you be a temporary Jedi Master? To train the younglings in basic lightsaber combat?'

' Sure,' Anakin gave Luke a thumbs-up.

' And I'd like Caleb to be a Padawan Helper.'

' YAS!' Caleb squealed. ' I'd love to!'

Obi-wan said serenely, ' I can be the Language teacher.'

' No way,' Caleb shook his head. ' Language is so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o boring.'

' Well, everyone has different preferences,' Obi-wan shrugged. ' And I love negotiating. Why else would I get the name The Negotiator?'

' Okay guys, everything is settled, and we can wait for our first batch of younglings,' Luke clapped.

 **Whoop whoop! XD**

 **CNY Holidays are about to come up! :D So I can update! Though we have a Chinese dance competition on Thursday, so wish our class luck! :P**


	13. Chapter 13

**Some OC** **s will be briefly introduced, seeing that Luke needs to get new initiates :D But I am terrible with getting good names, so... Don't judge too much XD**

Ahsoka clutched her holoprojector (Leia was incredibly nice to lend one to her, and she actually knew Ahsoka would need to contact people), and trotted off to find Luke. She had good news. She had somehow managed to contact Pooja. Sure, it was hard to get to her, but with some help from various agents in the Rebellion, there was no problem at all.

When she first called Pooja through her channel, she wasn't entirely sure what she knew and what she didn't know. Ahsoka knew that Pooja went to Padme's funeral, but she had no idea whether the Naberrie family ever knew why Padme died, or why she was pregnant.

But to her surprise, Bail and Mon Mothma had been blunt and straightforward to the Naberrie family after the funeral. They told them about the entire Padme and Anakin love issue, and the entire plot about the Jedi by Palpatine, except they decided to omit the fact that Anakin went to the Dark Side (they were smart to do that, and Ahsoka intended to leave it this way) in case of any complications or information falling into the wrong hands. They simply told him that Anakin died in the Purge and Padme died of a broken heart shortly after the birth of the twins. So naturally, Pooja knew all about where Luke and Leia went and everything they were up to. That was also exactly why they were secret Rebellion sympathisers.

' Oh yeah, you were Aunt Padme's husband's Padawan Ahsoka Tano, is that right? Aunt Padme used to talk a lot about you and your former Master back then, but that was before he died,' The young woman had said. ' And now... You are working for the Rebellion, right? Senator Organa once told us about that. But I didn't quite expect you to find me personally. Is there something wrong? Does the Rebellion need help from Naboo?'

Ahsoka quickly explained the situation. Pooja was so pleased when she knew that Leia was going to get married, and agreed to let them use the Naboo lake retreat almost immediately at any time.

And now, Ahsoka was nearly skipping to tell Luke the wonderful news. It didn't take her long to spot him, because Luke was standing near the half-finished hangar, pointing at the ground with a thin broken branch from a tree and muttering about measurements under his breath.

' Hey there, Grandmaster!' She skidded to a halt next to him.

Luke sighed, ' Don't call me that... Luke is fine.'

' Alright, alright, I am just teasing you,' She waved her holoprojector around madly. ' Anyways, I am here to tell you some wonderful news! I had just contacted Pooja Naberrie!'

' Really?' Luke perked up. ' How did you find her?'

' Well, with the help of Commander Sato, who contacted Mon Mothma, who then called Admiral Ackbar for details, and then he...' Ahsoka counted out an impressive list of Alliance officers and workers, half of the list consisted of people Luke had never heard of. ' ... who finally found Pooja Naberrie's channel for me! And oh yes, she agree to let us use the Naberrie lake retreat!'

Luke immediately tossed away the branch and his eyes lit up, ' Really? Oh, that's really wonderful! Leia and Han will be very happy. What a delightful occasion! We will get that working immediately once we start up the Order.'

Ahsoka couldn't help but agree whole-heartedly. Things were finally going to get better at last.

* * *

True to Leia's words, the Millennium Falcon appeared at the new hangar one day after, and she had two young, shy kids that looked around ten years old with her. They looked rather excited but nervous at the same time.

Before Luke could ask anything, she explained to all of them, ' I found the twins in an orphanage when I visited Coruscant just yesterday. I can sense that they are Force-sensitive, so with the head of orphanage's consent, I brought them here. So this is Lora and Jacie.'

Lora was a Tholothian girl with tanned skin and dark blue eyes. Jacie was a boy with dark coloured hair and green eyes. They were twins but yet looked different.

 _They resembled Petro and Katooni,_ Ahsoka realised with a sudden little jolt. She had no idea whether it was coincidence or not, but they reminded me her of the two energetic initiates she had once chaperoned.

It seemed like Caleb noticed the resemblance too, because he walked over to Ahsoka and whispered, ' Heck, they look so much like...' He snapped his fingers. ' Forgot their names... Petra and Katrina?'

' Petro and Katooni,' Ahsoka whispered back. ' You think so too? Do you know Petro and Katooni?'

' Oh yeah... Master Billaba used to substitute for Master Unduli in regular lightsaber classes when she went to missions. Sometimes I would stand in to help with correcting their lightsaber grips if I don't have any duty or classes at the same time for volunteer hours. I remember Petro and Katooni. I think they top their classes, besides they are best friends, right? So, you know them too?'

' Yeah, I once accompanied them on the Gathering to get their lightsaber crystals with Huyang. Bumped into some nasty accidents along the way, but everyone pulled through.'

' The resemblance is shocking,' Caleb murmured. ' Do you think they may be related? Some very distant cousin or what?'

' Maybe,' Ahsoka thought about it for a while. ' Who knows? It is possible.' Caleb shrugged and awkwardly slid away.

Luke warmly welcomed the two and led them to their new rooms on the first floor, while explaining quickly about how the training would work.

After a while, he came running back down, smiling at them, ' Yep, they are strong with the Force, alright. We can start teaching them Force skills and when they are ready, we can give them a training lightsaber or two. Afterwards, they can be assigned. Who wants to be on the first round of teaching Force skills?'

' Can I try?' Ezra raised his hand. ' I'd like to help with teaching.' Chopper made a contemptuous noise at the back of the crowd.

' _Who said I can't lift bowls?_ ' Ezra said indignantly. ' I am very used to using the Force now, thank you very much! I can lift a lot of stuff including _bowls_!'

Chopper sniggered.

' No, I don't need your help!' Ezra crossed his arms.

' Um, er,' Luke cleared his throat. ' Ezra, sure, go ahead!'

' Okay, let me see if I can go grab some things for them to lift, and we can get started immediately,' Ezra said excitedly, already anticipating his opportunity to teach.

' Go ahead, Ezra,' Kanan patted Ezra's back and let him dash off like wind to grab anything he could find.

' For now, let us discuss how to organise Leia's wedding first,' Luke prompted. ' I am sure you want to invite your friends, right? Do you have any ideas?'

' Yeah, definitely,' Leia nodded eagerly. ' Let's talk.'

 **Thanks! :) Long silly AN below XD Read if you want to**

 **Ugh, I have to go to the dentist for a tooth extraction tomorrow. :/ I know it sounds kind of lame, but I am kind of nervous. D: To relax, I think I may need to bring along my earphones so I can just listen to music and pretend I am not there. I would play Star Wars music if I could, but I think I may start jiggling around on the dentist chair (Star Wars music is just so epic!), so probably not XD Any advice on how to relax? :P**

 **On happier note, I realised that two of my school's history teachers are Star Wars fans! XD Seems like Star Wars fans are actually all over my school but I don't know it!**

 **Teacher: Yeah, so fear is the path to the dark side.**

 **Friend and I: *SCREAMS* YODAAAAAAAAAAA!**

 **Rest of the class: Whaaat...?**

 **Teacher: Oh yeah! Yoda quote! Finally, someone spots it. Anyone who has watched Star Wars?**

 **Friend and I: *SCREAMS* YES, US US US US US! WHOOOOOHOOOO...**

 **Half of the class: Yeah, we have.**

 **Teacher: *suspiciously* yet you don't know this awesomely famous quote? From Yoda?**

 **Half of the class: Er... We did watch Force Awakens.**

 **Teacher: Oh, come on. Let me ask it this way: Who has been fans right before Force Awakens even came out?**

 **Friend and I: US! We even finished the cartoons!**

 **Half of the class: Er.**

 **Teacher: Aw, come on. Watch the rest too.**

 **And throughout the day, my friend and I were like, ' Wow, fans seem to be everywhere!' And we thought we were lonely fans.**


	14. Chapter 14

' Look here, try to use the Force and lift these bowls up.'

Ezra had invited Lora and Jacie to his own quarters to practice the use of the Force. He had somehow found himself some bowls from the large bunch of stuff Leia brought them. They were slightly chipped from being thrown around on a spaceship, but definitely okay to use.

He laid two bowls on his small table, one in front of each kid. Lora and Jacie were looking at the two bowls apprehensively.

' Yeah, I haven't really introduced myself,' Ezra cleared his throat. ' I am Ezra Bridger, uh, Jedi Knight.' It felt kind of weird and exciting to properly announce himself as a Jedi Knight. He never thought he had the actual chance to become a Knight.

' Will I be a Jedi Knight someday?' Jacie asked in awe.

' Yeah, of course,' Ezra grinned. ' With suitable training of course. Now, let's get you started on the Force techniques. Today, we will be doing basic stuff, such as lifting light objects with your mind. Allow me to demonstrate before we start.'

He simply closed his eyes and with just a bit of concentration, the bowl bent to his will and lifted itself above the table. The two kids were too busy gaping with fascination and excitement. ' That is it,' He waved his hand and the bowl dropped back onto the table surface lightly. ' Now, hold out your hands in front of you, just here...'

And that was what they did. ' Good, once you got the position, focus. Picture in your mind you are lifting the bowl up. Lift the bowl up.' Ezra found himself repeating the words Kanan had said to him a lot of years ago, and he secretly thanked him for that. Kanan was an insanely good teacher, even at difficult times.

Lora's bowl tipped over with a clank. Jacie's hadn't moved at all.

' Aw, my bowl got tipped over!' Lora sighed.

' At least your bowl moved. Why doesn't mine move?' Jacie asked, slightly disappointed.

' Skills are not formed in just one day. One can only become a skilled warrior by working hard,' Ezra explained. ' When I first learnt the Force, I wasn't able to lift the bowl at all. But I practiced hard, and eventually, I got it. It would be same for you.' He was surprised at how mature he sounded. He almost sounded like Kanan now. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to add what Rex told him a long time ago, ' Also, in some cases, besides looking through the Force, remember to use your eyes too.'

Jacie and Lora nodded. ' Great. Now let's try that again,' Ezra rearranged the bowls.

By the end of the hour, Lora and Jacie had managed to wobble their bowls a bit. It wasn't much, but that was definitely a great improvement and a good beginning. ' Well done, both of you,' Ezra said kindly. ' If you continue to work on it, you'll get it. Feel free to ask me for help though, or any of the other Masters.'

' I don't really know the other masters,' Lora said shyly.

Ezra nodded, ' Oh right, we haven't really introduced ourselves to you. Okay, I'll try to briefly introduce them for you. The blonde guy that brought you up here, is Luke Skywalker, Grandmaster of the Order, the highest rank. You may know him as Luke Skywalker of the Rebel Alliance too.'

' Yeah, he is so cool,' Jacie squealed. ' We saw him on the holotv. He blew up the Death Star!'

' He saved the day!' Lora exclaimed with admiration.

 _Looks like Luke got some fans,_ Ezra chuckled lightly to himself.

' Indeed. And the brown haired guy sporting that small ponytail and green clothes? He is Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Master. Great teacher. He was the one who trained me in the ways of the Force. The Togruta woman is called Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Master as well. Fantastic warrior. The brown haired guy with a scar above his eye is Anakin Skywalker. Well, he is a temporary teacher, and is well-known to be a great Form V user. Ah, don't forget Caleb Dume too. He is a Jedi Padawan, and temporary teacher as well.'

' That's a lot of people,' Jacie commented.

' Yeah, but this Order will continue to grow once more people come along,' Ezra said. ' Okay... Actually, are you two hungry?'

Jacie and Lora nodded eagerly.

' Let's go and grab you some food.'

* * *

' Wow,' Luke and Ahsoka peered over the list once Leia finished. They had asked Leia to scribble down a brief list of who she wanted to invite over to her wedding, but hadn't expected there would be so many.

Ahsoka could identify most of the people, because they were all high-ranked officials in the Rebellion, such as Mon Mothma. She had even invited Commander Sato. ' Who are the rest though?' Luke squinted at the names.

' Oh, Senators,' Leia looked at Luke. ' Really good friends of mine from the Imperial Senate.'

' IMPERIAL SENATE?' Luke spluttered. ' You've got friends there?'

' Hey. All of them are rebel sympathisers, please. They often give us supplies and credits, but they never get caught. Though don't expect me to invite Tarkin,' She laughed. ' Look here, that is Senator...' She muttered out a large string of names that Luke and Ahsoka had absolutely no idea of.

' And that is Senator Lux Bonteri of Onderon,' She poked out a name. ' A good friend of mine.'

' Wait, Lux?' Ahsoka repeated. ' He's still around?'

' Oh, you know Lux?' Leia smiled. ' Yeah, he is still around on the Imperial Senate. But he mostly stayed quiet on Senate sessions, and rarely talked unless the issues involve Onderon. He occasionally gave us supplies and ships from Onderon to aid us in the Rebellion. Yeah, besides him, Senator Riyo Chuchi of Pantora also helped us a lot. She didn't talk much on the Senate.'

' Ah,' Ahsoka breathed, extremely relieved. ' Lux and Riyo are safe. I thought they wouldn't survive in the tyranny of the Empire. Being a Senator in the Empire is even harder than being a Senator in the Republic. At least back in the old times, you won't get executed.'

' Lux and Riyo are smart. Of course they can survive,' Leia waved off. ' We often went out for lunch together. They were still around on the Senate when the Emperor died, so I guess they are free agents now.'

' Yeah,' Luke nodded. ' If they are your friends, you can invite them. But can the place hold so many people though?'

Ghost-Anakin who hadn't been talking for a while, pondered for a while, ' It's pretty large, I guess.'

' Do you think so too, Artooie?' Ahsoka asked R2, using his nickname. R2 piped up a confirmation happily.

' Ah, you still insist to call him Artooie,' Anakin shook his head with a smile.

' Speaking of that Lux Bonteri boy, I'm looking forward, to have _some real talk_ , with _some real folks_ ,' Ghost-Anakin cracked his knuckles maliciously.

' Master...' Ahsoka face-palmed. ' How many times do I need to tell you, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and-'

' He's no good,' Even Anakin complained.

' Of course not,' Ahsoka counter-argued. ' He's gentlemanly and kind!'

' So?' Ghost-Anakin crossed his arms. The rest of the group watched the debate with silent amusement. Leia was desperately trying not to laugh.

' He had never done anything, so stop being so protective!' Ahsoka yelled at Ghost-Anakin.

R2 chirped innocently in Binary, er _, not including the time he kissed you in that Death Watch Camp?_

Unfortunately, Ghost-Anakin heard that perfectly and all hell broke loose.

' HE DID WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!'

 **Teehee! :D**

 **Anyways, the dental visit went okay. When the dentist chair went up at the end, I totally felt like Darth Vader in ROTS XD**


	15. Chapter 15

**Again, I suck at coming up with new names. Do bear with me. XD**

If someone told Ezra that a miniature Death Star went supernova in the new meeting room, he would believe it without doubt.

He was walking past the room to return the practice bowls back to the makeshift kitchen, when he heard angry shouting noises coming from the room, and the anger in the Force was evident. Quickly dishing off the bowls onto the nearby counter, he dashed to the entrance of the meeting room, and here it was.

Almost everyone was seated in the room, forming a ring. In the middle, yelling furiously, was Ghost-Anakin and Anakin, who looked plain annoyed.

' I KNEW IT! I KNEW THAT LUX BONTERI WAS UP TO NO GOOD! HA! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON HIM ON NABOO! I'M GOING TO... I...' He bellowed out loud into the air above. ' HOW COME THIS INFORMATION NEVER CAME TO ME, HUH?'

' You were on some stupid mission on-' Ahsoka tried to defend herself.

' I DON'T CARE! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME WHEN YOU CAME BACK!' Ghost-Anakin glared.

' If he hadn't kissed me, I would have been caught by the Death Watch people!' Ahsoka clenched her fists. ' He actually saved my life!'

Ezra silently walked into the room, and knelt next to Kanan. ' Dude, what is going on? A new Death Star explosion?' Ezra tapped his former master nervously.

' Uh,' Kanan answered with thinly disguised amusement. ' Some kind of protective brother-sister banter.'

' Ah, I see,' Ezra understood immediately. The debate must be about some kind of boy problem then, judging from the information he was given at the time.

' Har dee har,' Ghost-Anakin was no longer shouting, but his voice was still thunderous and murderous at the same time. ' Saving you? You must be kidding me. He must be plotting something! I knew it!'

The ghostly form of Obi-wan materialised next to Ghost-Anakin. He didn't look happy. ' Stop that racket you are making, pal! I can hear you all the way from Tatooine!'

' Why are you even on _Tatooine_?' Ghost-Anakin demanded.

' An old man needs his vacation!' Obi-wan replied mockingly. ' You know, I booked the bantha sightseeing tour with all the dramatic sand background. Oh, wait, I forgot, you don't like sand-'

' That is not the point, _Old Man_!' Ghost-Anakin hissed. ' Now get over here and help me with lecturing this young lady over here. It occurred to me that Lux Bonteri kissed her.'

' Ah,' Obi-wan smiled.

Ghost-Anakin blanched at his former master, ' You... Aren't you going to give her your usual no-attachment lecture?'

' Well, I do like my no-attachment lecture, but I must admit that you, who have already broken the no-attachment rule to billions of little pieces, have absolutely no right to lecture Ahsoka for having attachments,' Obi-wan crossed his arms. ' Besides, Ahsoka is a young lady already. She can take care of herself. So let her go.' Luke laughed out loud at Obi-wan's words.

' Woah woah woah,' Ghost-Anakin looked around him incredulously. ' You are all teaming against me, right?'

' No, we are not, stop being ridiculous-'

' Even you, my son.'

' No, Father!'

' If you are not with me, then you are my enemy!' Ghost-Anakin shouted hysterically. ' I'll see to it that the kri-'

' Language, Anakin!' Obi-wan said sharply.

Eyeing Obi-wan viciously, he disappeared with a 'dramatic' crack and a flourish of cloak.

' Phew,' Obi-wan wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from his forehead. ' That was tiring and anticlimactic.'

' Oh, great,' Ahsoka sighed. ' Now he is angry at me.'

' Not really,' Obi-wan shrugged. ' I can sense that he is just annoyed, and just a bit upset that you kept this from him. Don't worry, he'll recover from his anger problem after one or two rounds of bingo with Master Yoda.'

' Yeah, right,' Anakin huffed indignantly. ' If that was really an unintentional one, you could still tell me about it! What made you keep that from me?'

' Oh yeah?' Ahsoka said sarcastically. ' And risk being pushed in front of Master Kenobi or Master Windu for the triple hour Remedial No-Attachment Reinforcing Training Talk? No thank you.'

' The Triple Hour Remedial No-Attachment Reinforcing Training Talk?' Caleb piped up nervously. ' I didn't even know this kind of thing existed.'

' It does,' Obi-wan nodded. ' But Master Windu was the core founder, not me.'

' Ah,' Caleb looked anxious. ' I'll be sure to avoid that.'

At the corner of the room, Leia was a bit shocked from the earlier 'debate'. After a couple more stunned seconds, she finally turned to Luke and asked shakily, ' Seriously, are you telling me that he and Vader were the same person?'

' Uh, yeah.'

' He was that protective and crazy?'

' Yeah.'

' I can't believe it,' She leaned back into her chair, and tried to ignore the recurring question popping up in her mind: _what made this man turn into Vader?_

* * *

More young, new faces showed up at the new Temple a week later, as Leia brought in as many new initiates as she could. Hera and Ezra also tried to recruit people on Lothal.

Most of them were orphans, like Kira, Moki, Gloria and Gregg. But for Aria, a blue-skinned Twi'lek girl and Jeremi, a human boy, their parents willingly gave them to Leia in hope to help them harness their Force abilities, and Leia promised them Visit Days.

All of the existing Jedi Masters were extremely busy, planning for activities and training topics for them.

Ezra's 'Bowl Lifting Class' worked well, seeing that by the end of a week, most of them were able to hover a bowl. He was planning to make them do something hard, maybe he could get them to lift Chopper (as 'revenge').

The others taught lightsaber sparring. Somehow among the mystery Jedi training materials, they found an impressive amount of training lightsabers, one of which surprisingly contained a purple kyber crystal. Everyone would jostle at each other, because they all wanted the purple one. Kanan taught them some basic Form I and Form III. Ahsoka and Anakin mostly taught Form IV and Form V, and Anakin wouldn't let her teach them her unorthodox reverse grip. But she ignored him. Shortly after, Anakin was greatly displeased when Ahsoka came back gloating at him that Kira and Gregg preferred the reverse Shien grip. As for Form II, it turned out that Caleb had some kind of experience with it before too, so he taught the initiates about that.

As for Ghost-Anakin... Obi-wan was right about him. His mood definitely improved after a game or two with Master Yoda. But he was being exceptionally annoying, gnashing his teeth and plodding around when Luke was concentrating on sending out invitations. He was being so disturbing and Luke was worried that his bad temper would come up again, so he quickly hid Lux Bonteri's letter under the finished stack before Ghost-Anakin could see anything.

He secretly hired Wedge to take the stack of invitations and once Wedge was off, he sighed with relief. All was done.

 **Yay... Tomorrow is Lunar New Year! Woohoo! I plan on feasting all day long on candies and potato chips, while watching Star Wars movies. XD**


	16. Chapter 16

It turned out the Rebel Alliance members loved festivities. Luke wasn't sure whether it was because they rarely had the time to party in between rebel movements, or they simply loved partying, but the entire Alliance was extremely excited about the wedding. They even set up a large collection fund with their own time and credits, and bought food, drinks and clothes for everyone.

Wedge along with his team of fellow pilots delivered invitations to guests, and one of them simply threw up a large one on the notice board for the rest of the Alliance. It turned out the entire Alliance was invited.

Luke and Ahsoka were starting worry if the Naboo Lake retreat was enough to house the most of the Rebellion, but R2 and Anakin assured them that the retreat was big enough. Oh well.

Luke made sure the date could be as soon as possible, as Anakin and Caleb would be returning in less than a month's time, and he was pretty sure they'd like to be part of the celebration as well, especially for Anakin.

Once the date was set, everyone was busier than ever and had to juggle with their time, because they had so many responsibilities. Since Hera suggested they all move to the Lake Retreat two days before the actual ceremony, Ahsoka had been busy with assigning transports from the Rebellion (she had been elected as one of the bridesmaids) if the younglings were to go too. To them, it was a nice field trip.

Shortly before the departure time, Luke called to the instructors, ' Hey, Leia said the transports will arrive in ten minutes time. I believe you guys have packed, er, your stuff?'

' There's not really anything to pack,' Anakin shrugged. ' Except clothes.'

' Sure, Father 2,' Luke rubbed his temples.' Though are the initiates ready?' He had resorted to calling Ghost-Anakin as Father 1 and Anakin as Father 2, because the last time he called 'Father' (he meant for Anakin) in the middle of dinner, Ghost-Anakin appeared almost immediately, and he was peppered with identical, concerned shouts of 'what's up, son'. The initiates bursted into laughter on the spot and he was terribly humiliated.

' Yes, Master Skywalker,' Gregg replied back excitedly, still clutching his purple training lightsaber (he was the winner of the day).

' But I think you will have to leave the training lightsabers here,' Luke said kindly.

' Aw!' All of them pouted at Luke.

' We know you love the lightsabers, but we can't have you accidentally knocking over the Naberrie's properties, right?' Ezra tried to reason with them. ' Anyways, let's continue with the basics lesson.'

' Yes, Master Bridger,' They all chirruped.

So they went around, correcting the grips of the initiates, and basically tried to give them advice. Also, Caleb was moaning around, while following Ezra.

' That's so unfair!' Caleb moaned.

' What?' Ezra looked back at him, while trying to correct Lora's grip. ' Why is it?'

' Not that I am grouchy or something, but when I got into the Jedi Order, I was just a toddler. Then, I had to live through years and years of the meditation, studies AND Force ability lessons, before I could hold a _training_ lightsaber, mind you, just a training lightsaber,' Caleb said. ' Now for these kids, they got into the Order for less than a week, and they can already use a training lightsaber.'

Ezra understood why Caleb sounded so jealous. Of course he was. He remembered well that Caleb hated Language classes a lot (to the extent he wrecked havoc in the room and tossed Ezra to the wall), and the only class he looked forward to during the day would be lightsaber sparring lessons. He imagined years of language classes Caleb had to survive through, and how much he longed for a real lightsaber lesson.

But for Ezra, he too wasn't trained like Caleb was. Weeks into his Jedi training, he had already learnt to use Kanan's lightsaber. So... Caleb's question made some kind of sense. Why was it that way?

Kanan seemed to have heard Caleb's question, and he walked over, ' Younger-me, the answer is simple. Back in the old Order, we were fighting a huge war. Most of the Jedi population were dispatched to the entire galactic system to fight as Generals or Commanders, and not so much were left in the Temple. There was not enough manpower to instruct the initiates intensively. But now, the major war is nearly over, and we are free agents. So naturally, we will be able to address each of the initiates of their problems easily, and thus they can progress.'

' Huh,' Caleb snorted, but at least the answer was satisfying.

On the other side, Ahsoka and Anakin was bickering again, as usual.

' I should have corrected your Shien grip!' He chastised. ' Now look!'

More and more initiates favoured the reverse grip.

' What? That's my freedom! Besides, it feels better than the standard grip. And I can catch enemies by surprise,' She retorted. ' Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean I can't use it.'

' Argh!' Anakin shouted.

' Um, Father 2,' Luke appeared next to them nervously. ' Transports are approaching, so you may get ready.'

True to his word, many ships were dropping low onto the new hangar bay. The most notable ship of them all was the famous Millennium Falcon. It seemed like the initiates heard a lot about the famous ship too, because they were squealing, ' Goodness, it is the Falcon! Look here! I saw the Falcon!'

The Ghost was also there. Kanan, Ezra and Caleb immediately got onto the Ghost. Ahsoka, Anakin, Luke, R2 and 3PO would go on the Falcon. A large Rebel cruiser manned by Wedge would house all the Jedi initiates.

On the Falcon, there was Chewbacca, and surprisingly, Lando instead of Han.

' Luke! And... Commander Fulcrum!' He turned around to grin at them. ' Who...'

' Hey there Lando,' Luke patted the man's back. ' Long time no see. This is Anakin Skywalker.'

' General Calrissian, nice to meet you again.' Ahsoka nodded at him. ' But please call me Ahsoka.'

' Fine, Commander Ahsoka.'

' Where is Han though?' Luke looked around, as if expecting the man to pop down from the ceiling.

' Ah,' Lando pressed some buttons and the Millennium Falcon rose into the air. ' The future bride and the groom have already arrived on Naboo. So he lent this to me to pick you people up. That Pooja lady seems pretty nice as well.'

' I see,' Luke answered. ' How are they?'

' Happy, of course!' Lando snorted. ' Those pair of lovebirds! I knew they were a couple the first time I saw them. And I can't wait for the wedding. An excellent day of festivity, where I can go gambling.'

Chewbacca made a roaring noise.

' Fine, fine, big guy,' Lando patted Chewbacca down. ' I won't go gambling, okay? Okay, if Wedge and Hera on the other side are ready, we can make our jump to hyperspace. Sit tight.'

 **Hey there! :)**

 **In case you don't know, they released the new episode titles for the last few episodes of SWR Season 2. And there is this one called 'Twilight of the Apprentice' or something, but it doesn't look that good for a certain apprentice D:**

 **But the episode hasn't aired yet, so I shall remain extremely hopeful. :P**


	17. Chapter 17

**Relatively longer chapter! :D**

Lando turned back to announce to them, ' Hey, we've arrived. Come on, Luke, wake up!'

Luke jerked awake. He didn't realise that he had dozed off. He was really exhausted.

Along with the others, he got off the Millennium Falcon and he found that he was standing in front of the most sophisticated, elegant and beautiful mansion he had ever seen.

' Wow,' Ahsoka breathed. ' And I thought the Senate Apartment Complex was luxurious. This must be the fanciest place I have ever been to.' Luke silently agreed. All the years, he had only lived in the moisture farm and bunkers in the Rebel Alliance, a mansion almost seemed strange to him.

' Indeed, I felt the same when I first saw it,' Anakin commented lightly. ' The Jedi aren't really that used to extravagance, so it is natural.'

Lando called out with a laugh, ' Okay, I'll be leaving you guys here. I must go off to find Han! Bye!' And he ran off.

On the other hand, an elegantly dressed woman came out to meet them from the entrance. ' Commander Ahsoka Tano, we have communicated with each other,' She shook Ahsoka's hand politely. ' And Commander Luke Skywalker! I have heard a lot about you. Pleased to meet you. And... Who may this be?' She peered at Anakin.

' Um, uh,' Ahsoka invented wildly. ' He is... Er... Rex... Cody! Yeah, Rex Cody! Rex is one of the Temple workers and he also helps in the Rebellion from time to time.' Rex and Cody were the first names sshe could come up with that wouldn't arouse any suspicion.

' Pleased to meet you too, Rex,' The woman said pleasantly. ' And I am Pooja Naberrie. Now... Come over please, allow me to lead you into your respective quarters.' She turned back into the building, and they followed her.

' Rex Cody?' Anakin hissed at Ahsoka quietly. ' Is that the best you can come up with?' Luke sniggered.

' What's wrong with Rex and Cody?' Ahsoka snapped. ' Both are good men and good names.'

' Who else arrived, Ms Naberrie?' Luke asked.

' Oh, just call me Pooja. Hm, a lot of people have arrived. Let's see, a couple groups of Alliance members came just this morning, Leia and Han arrived a bit later,' She mused. ' Leia, what a lovely young lady. She reminded me of Aunt Padme a lot. From the appearance to the temperament. Ah, I believe a group called the Ghost Crew and a band of initiates along with Wedge Antilles arrived just before you came here.'

' Great,' Luke said.

Pooja shows them to their respective rooms. Anakin's room was next to Luke's room. And she made sure Ahsoka's room was directly next to Leia's, because Ahsoka would need to help out with all the make-up and 'girl' stuff on the wedding day.

Once they got to their rooms, Pooja left them. Anakin, who seemed to know the place quite well, showed them around enthusiastically, until they bumped into the Ghost Crew.

' Ah, hey!' Ezra waved at them cheerfully. ' What a wonderful place!'

Ahsoka quickly pulled them aside to explain that Anakin was now code-named Rex Cody and the reason behind this sudden arrangement. They understood immediately.

' That's perfectly fine, Rex,' Caleb piped up and Anakin's face darkened.

* * *

The next day was a complete whirlwind. Even evacuating from Yavin 4 back then seemed rather orderly.

More and more guests started to arrive. And to Luke's secret relief, the Onderon senator hadn't arrived yet, or else he would have some serious headache trying to restrain both Father 1 and Father 2, because Anakin wanted to give Lux a piece of his mind as well, if not some 'aggressive negotiations'.

Admiral Ackbar also directed food transportations himself, plus an extra order of muffins from the technicians department, because Matt the technician adored muffins. He had a penchant of devouring all the breakfast muffins, not leaving any for his fellow technicians.

The little initiates helped quite a lot too. They helped decorating the verandas with champagne coloured ribbons and pale pink bows by lifting them with the Force. Ezra was the one to suggest this Force-using exercise. It could both help the wedding decorating progress and their Force abilities. Besides, children had the best imagination, and they had a lot of ideas of how to decorate the veranda, so Luke left the initiates to work in peace.

Since Ahsoka was the head of bridesmaid (' Snips, a bridesmaid?' Both Ghost-Anakin and Anakin had echoed in abject horror when Leia announced it to them), she was hauled off by Pooja to experiment on different shoes, jewellery and help with forming hairstyles, demonstrated by Sola Naberrie, Pooja's mother and Padme's sister.

If one looked closely, Ghost-Anakin, Obi-wan and even Master Yoda could be seen playing bingo peacefully at the corner of the veranda.

In the evening, Pooja walked around the place to get everyone to go to bed early. ' Lights out at 10!' She called out. ' It's going to be a big day ahead, so I want you all to have some beauty sleep!'

And that was what they did.

* * *

Early next morning, everyone literally jumped out of bed, too excited for the day of fun. But at the same time, almost everyone got a wardrobe change.

Ezra tugged at the collar of his stiff tunic, feeling rather uncomfortable and uneasy. They were all assigned 'dress uniforms' to replace their normal (casual) armour or jumpsuits, and for Ezra's case, he wasn't allowed to wear his normal orange jumpsuit. Kanan was also forced to replace his armour with a similar Jedi-attire like set of clothes.

Hera and Sabine somehow got themselves formal dresses. And Ezra wasn't really that used to seeing Sabine out of her colourful Mandalorian armour.

Ahsoka replaced her armour with a burgundy coloured dress that somehow resembled her old Jedi uniform, except it was longer. She even added her old Togruta sash, a utility belt and her lightsabers. But she wore a necklace to make the outfit look more appropriate for the occasion.

Anakin, Caleb, Luke and the rest of the initiates were allowed to keep their plain Jedi attire, and Ezra secretly thought it was unfair.

It seemed like most of the guests got a sudden wardrobe change, because they saw Wedge and a couple of pilots from his squadron walking past with their helmets under one arm, all looking rather uneasy in their dress uniforms. It was true, because honestly, Luke had never seen Wedge out of his orange flight suit.

Guests were beginning to arrive. More cruisers from various planets appeared, and Senators started to flood the welcoming hall. Some started to make way to congratulate a rather nervous looking Han, who was accompanied by Chewbacca and Lando. Leia was nowhere to be seen.

' Hey, where is Leia?' Anakin whispered.

' Ah, that reminds me,' Ahsoka snapped her fingers. ' I need to prepare Leia's make-up. See you!' She ran off.

' That didn't answer my question at all,' Anakin frowned.

Ghost-Anakin suddenly materialised next to Anakin. ' Dude, you gave me a fright!' Anakin jumped a few miles away from his ghostly self.

' I am just popping around to give you the answer,' Ghost-Anakin crossed his arms. ' It is some kind of old wedding tradition, I think. Forgot where it originated from, but they saw it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony. So the bridesmaids are trying hard to keep Leia inside her room.'

' Ah I see,' Luke said. ' But Father 1, what are you doing here? You could be spotted, you know, and not to be rude, but we already had a huge problem of trying to mask Father 2 as Rex Cody.'

' You can always say I am a clone of dear Rex Cody,' Ghost-Anakin puffed out his chest importantly. ' I am here to complete my life mission. Where's that Lux Bonteri? I seriously need to talk to Lux Bonteri.' Everyone groaned at his loud announcement.

' Faaather,' Luke complained. ' You promised that you wouldn't embarrass Ahsoka. Besides, he is Leia's good friend after all. She won't forgive you if you embarrass one of her friends.'

' Did I?' Ghost-Anakin raised an eyebrow innocently.

' Yes you did,' Caleb chimed up enthusiastically. ' I heard you the other day.'

' Very well,' Ghost-Anakin said, sounding extremely disappointed and annoyed. ' I'll go off to find Master Yoda.' He floated off.

' Well, then I can still have some _diplomatic negotiations_ with the boy, right?' Anakin asked hopefully.

' Unfortunately, that means you too, Father 2,' Luke sighed.

Caleb pointed out, ' Actually, I wonder if that Lux Bonteri dude can remember Master Skywalker. We will be doomed if he goes " Ah, Master Skywalker" in front of the guests.'

' Then we will introduce him as Rex Cody,' Luke answered, not worried at all.

' Well, then there's that Riyo Chuchi lady.'

' Whatever they say, deny everything and say that he is Rex Cody,' Luke picked up a chocolate muffin from a tray nonchalantly.

' Whatever you say, buddy,' Caleb leaned back onto the wall.

Once Hera, Sabine and Kanan went off to get some drinks, Luke dragged Anakin off to the dessert table, in hopes to have some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, many Senators spotted Luke and approached them to have a good look at the person who defeated the Empire. Luke got introduced to so many Senators, that his brain was buzzing from the efforts to remember all the names that were shoved to his face. Most came from planets he had never even heard of. Being famous had its drawbacks.

Finally, a beautiful young Pantoran Senator came forward to introduce herself as Riyo Chuchi of Pantora. ' Pleased to meet you, Senator Chuchi,' Luke bowed slightly at Riyo (he was silently thankful that he actually knew someone). ' I've heard a lot about you from Leia.'

' Oh yes, about that, I still can't believe you and Leia are siblings!' She laughed.

' Well, it was kind of unbelievable at first,' Luke shrugged.

' Yes,' She smiled politely. ' And... I want to ask... Do you know Ahsoka Tano? I heard she joined the Rebel Alliance, but I haven't heard from her since she left the Jedi Order. She used to be a Jedi, so I am wondering if you know her.'

' Of course I know Ahsoka!' Luke grinned. ' As you see, I needed help to create a new Jedi Order, so I recruited her. She is now a Jedi Master.'

Riyo gasped, ' Really? That's wonderful!'

' Yeah. If you wish to see her, you may need to wait for a while, because she is Leia's bridesmaid. You know, get ready, make-up, and all that stuff.'

' Great, I hope to see you soon,' Riyo then walked away to greet her other Senator friends. It was only after Riyo left the desserts table, when Luke found out that his father was trying to hide behind him.

' I can't let her see me,' Anakin said. ' She knows me back from the Clone Wars. That would spoil the entire Rex Cody thing.'

Unfortunately, his fake identity was put to test when the target of the year, Lux Bonteri showed up with a glass of some kind of fancy drink.

' Master Skywalker, pleased to finally meet you,' The certain Senator of Onderon shook Luke's hand sincerely. And Luke finally got a good look at the man that his father constantly had in mind. His first impression was same as Ahsoka's. Lux seemed friendly and gentlemanly.

' Nice to meet you too, Senator Bonteri, Leia told me a great deal about you,' He said politely, while silently adding in his mind, _also I heard a great deal about you from Ahsoka and both of my fathers._

' And...' Very unfortunately, Lux spotted Anakin (who tried to blend into the beige coloured wall) behind Luke. He looked extremely shocked, ' Is that... _Anakin Skywalker_? I thought he died in the Purges!'

' No no no!' Luke quickly waved his hands around. ' He is not Anakin Skywalker! He is one of my helpers, called Rex Cody!'

' Really?' Lux didn't look that convinced. ' I have seen Master Anakin Skywalker in the Clone Wars era. And I am 99.9% sure he looks just like that.'

Luke was starting to run out of ideas, and Anakin started to say, ' Er, I am Rex Cody Lars. Anakin Skywalker's, um, _stepbrother_. We resemble Mother a lot. Even the Tatooine farmers say we look like twins. And... I got this scar... from a farming accident. Haha, Anakin got a similar one, except it was made by a lightsaber.'

' Ah I see,' Lux nodded. ' Nice to meet you, Rex. Speaking of which, Luke, I still can't believe Master Skywalker broke the Jedi Code. He doesn't seem like the type that would break the Code. Forgive me for asking, but who's your mother?'

At that point, Luke was sure that Lux was fed the story of 'how Anakin Skywalker mysteriously had two kids but then died defending the Jedi Order in Order 66' like how most of the other Senators (except for Senator Bail Organa and Mon Mothma) were. And from the corner of his eye, he could see Anakin swelling in silent rage.

' I don't really know,' Luke shrugged innocently.

' Oh well,' Lux smiled. ' And... Is Ahsoka here? I heard that she was invited here as well.'

' She is one of the bridesmaids with Leia,' Anakin said rudely, and it came out a little bit angrier than what he had intended.

' Cool. Now... I must depart to say hello to the other Senators. We haven't seen each other for a long time. See you!' And he joined at the other snacks table.

 **Happy Valentines! XD**


	18. Chapter 18

Ahsoka arrived at Leia's bedroom just in time to see Mon Mothma walk out. She was dressed in one of her more formal Senatorial dresses dating back from the Clone Wars.

' Hey, Commander Ahsoka,' She said in a friendly tone.

' Hi, Mon,' Ahsoka waved cheerily. ' I heard you are the officiant of the ceremony. How are you feeling about this post?'

' Well, I am kind of nervous, but I know I will nail it,' She shrugged. ' Anyways, I got to go and study my lines. Good luck with setting up the bride!'

Ahsoka carefully pushed open the door to Leia's bedroom. There Leia was, already dressed in a beautiful wedding dress, brushing her dark brown hair. If she felt nervous, she did a good job in hiding it.

' Hey,' Leia turned to smile at Ahsoka. ' Gosh, you look nice!'

Ahsoka settled down to get ready for her make-up job, ' You look even nicer than I do. Now sit down here.' She picked up the comb and worked hard to replicate the intricate braided hairdo Pooja and Sola had showed her just the day before. Fancy hairstyles seemed to run in the Naberrie family, because she had seen Padme's Senate hairstyles (seriously, the handmaidens did a fantastic job). Fortunately, all her years of Jedi training paid off well, as she had clever and flexible fingers from wielding lightsabers for such a long time.

While Ahsoka was busily braiding her hair, Leia asked, ' How is everyone doing down there in the reception hall?'

' Hm?' Ahsoka stuck a pin through the finished braid. ' Oh yeah. Everyone's doing fine. Though I'm not quite sure whether they have met up with Lux. I do hope Anakin won't do anything that would embarrass me.'

' Oh boy,' Leia smirked. ' He is one sweet but over-protective jerk. I do hope Luke makes sure he won't scare away my guests. That won't be very nice.'

' Exactly,' Ahsoka grinned, and focused on trying to get the curly strands of hair into a bun. ' You're very correct.'

After a short while of awkward silence, Leia finally blurted out the question she had in mind for a long time, ' Ahsoka, do you know why my, er, father turned to the Dark Side?'

Surprised by the sudden question, Ahsoka nearly dropped the hairbrush. ' Oh,' Ahsoka said after a moment of hesitation. ' You want to know?'

' Yes,' Leia nodded. ' Not that he is nice or anything, but how come a funny and annoying guy like him turned to that horrible monster Darth Vader? What ever happened to him?'

Ahsoka sighed and put down the hairbrush onto the nearby dressing table, ' Anakin has always been a victim to the Dark Side. Jedi aren't supposed to feel anything or have attachments. Unfortunately for your father, he has tonnes of attachments. His mother, your mother, the 501st, Obi-wan or even R2 and 3PO. He was always terrified of losing someone he loved. When your mother was pregnant with you and Luke, Anakin started to have nightmares that she would die in childbirth. Not wanting to lose her, he did everything he could to stop it. That was exactly the reason why he was exposed to the Dark Side and tempted by Palpatine, who told him that the Dark Side could stop anyone from dying.'

Leia stared at Ahsoka, ' So... He Turned because he loved Mother so much?'

' You can put it that way,' Ahsoka nodded. ' His fear of losing his loved ones eventually led him down to become Darth Vader.'

' I never knew,' Leia whispered. ' I always thought he turned to the Dark Side because he wanted more power and to rule the galaxy. I never knew... He actually tried to save Mother by sacrificing himself to the Dark Side.'

' That was what I thought when I first discovered,' Ahsoka said grimly. ' It was in the middle of a duel... Somehow I knew the Force presence. I was so shocked and hurt by the truth back then, and I seriously thought that he betrayed all of us for power. I was... well... so angry at him. But shortly after the Battle of Yavin, old Obi-wan showed up in front of me. He told me everything.'

' I see,' Leia muttered.

' Yep. That's why you should learn to forgive your father,' Ahsoka laid her hand on Leia's shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile. ' He loves you both more than anything and is willing to do anything to compensate for his terrible mistake. Though, he can be extremely annoying sometimes. Now... Let's get your hair fixed, shall we?'

* * *

Caleb was mediating upon a question for quite some while. He was brought up to think that attachments were inappropriate. Technically, they weren't allowed to date, get married or even idolise poets (well, his Padawan classmates were always idolising random poets). So he never gave thought to this matter.

But now, boom! Attachments were allowed! Luke actually twisted the rule so that attachments were allowed! Boom! For once, Caleb allowed himself to ponder this matter for a moment. What attachments did he have? Possibly Master Billaba or even Commander Grey, whom he respected (well he was one of the few that would tolerate his endless questioning habits). But no others.

Then he noticed Ezra, who obviously had a crush on Sabine. And he was sure Master Anakin Skywalker was in love with some lady too, whoever she was. Luke... Not yet. And Master Anakin was extremely convinced that Ahsoka liked that Lux Bonteri Senator, whether it was true or not. So Caleb pondered for a moment: Would he ever fall in love?

He pondered over the same question over and over again, while drinking glasses and glasses of his favourite icy cold fruit juice. Then, the solution came to him: heck, why not just ask my Older-self? He would know, right?

So he walked over to his older self, who was hanging around the... What counter? Socktall? Chalktall? Ah, right, the _spocktall_ counter. Yes.

' Yo Older-me, what are you doing? Drinking spocktall?' Caleb asked innocently, completely oblivious of his mistake.

' Spocktall?' Kanan raised an eyebrow. ' You mean cocktail, right? And no, I am not drinking cocktail.'

' Ah,' Caleb said, embarrassed. ' Right.'

' So what's up?' Kanan looked at his younger counterpart with barely suppressed annoyance. ' Bored?'

' Nah. I just want to ask you something.'

' Ask away then.'

' Soooo. Do you happen to like anyone?'

Kanan's eyes widened at the question, and tripped back into the punch bowl in shock.

* * *

' Bored?'

Ghost-Anakin appeared suddenly next to his younger self and son with a brilliant smile.

' Not really,' Anakin downed his glass of drink.

' I was hoping you'd do me a favour, dear alive version of myself,' Ghost-Anakin wagged his finger dramatically. ' But you don't seem to be helping me at all.'

' I tried to,' Anakin argued.

Luke glared at his father, knowing perfectly well what he meant, ' Father! Stop it! Leia will not forgive you if you scare away one of her best friends!'

' Yeah right! But what's wrong with giving that boy a piece of my mind?' Ghost-Anakin pouted stubbornly and Anakin nodded.

Luke shook his head, ' Totally wrong! Firstly it will endanger that Rex Cody lie. Secondly, it doesn't seem right. Thirdly, Ahsoka will throttle you if you do anything.'

' She can't throttle me,' Ghost-Anakin smirked. ' The last time she tried to punch me, she fell through the air and onto the ground.'

' You...' Luke shook his head exasperatedly. ' I seriously don't know what to say.'

' Great! That means you approve!' Even Anakin's face lit up.

' What, I didn't!'

' Aw.'

 **;P**

 **Haha, just today, our science teacher gave us some questions to solve. Once we were finished with our papers:**

 **Teacher: Okay, here are three markers. If I give one to you, then you are the chosen one to-**

 **Me and friend: BRING BALANCE TO THE FORCE?**

 **Classmates: *groans***

 **Teacher: Uh no. The chosen one to write the answers on the board.**

 **Me: Ah. *disappointed***

 ***in the end, coincidentally, my friend and I got picked to write the answers***


	19. Chapter 19

**Note, I don't really know how weddings work, so I tried my best to replicate one... :P**

It took Zeb, Hera and Sabine working together to dislodge Kanan from the bowl of punch, while Caleb just gaped. Finally, while Zeb was trying hard to pat Kanan dry with some fluffy towels he took from the bathroom and one confused servant came out to replace the bowl of punch with a new one, Caleb thought innocently, _huh_ _, that must have been some floorboard malfunction to cause Older-me to trip up like this,_ his curiosity of the floorboard malfunction caused him to completely forget about why he approached his older self in the first place.

However, Kanan kept scowling at Caleb because the towels didn't work that much. He was still dripping from head to toe in punch and his clothes were completely ruined. In the end, one of Pooja's handmaidens came forward politely to offer him a change of clothes, which he agreed almost immediately and literally Force-jumped into the nearest bathroom.

* * *

Ahsoka left Leia's room, feeling extremely satisfied with herself. She had successfully replicated the braided hairstyled Pooja showed her, and she felt as if she had just defeated an army of MagnaGuards all by herself. So when she was done, she allowed Leia to settle down before one of the other bridesmaids escorted the bride down to the ceremony.

When she was walking down, she bumped into Han, who was trying to sneak around to get a good look of Leia. ' No peeking at the bride before the ceremony!' Ahsoka chastised lightly. ' Besides, you'll get to see her in a while.' Then Chewbacca appeared to help Ahsoka shoo Han back into the party.

Finally, she was allowed to enjoy the party. She spotted Anakin, Ghost-Anakin and Luke hanging around the snack tables, and went over to have a chat.

' Oh, thank goodness you are back,' Luke wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead.

' What? Have they done anything?' Ahsoka demanded.

' No, not yet,' Luke looked at Ghost-Anakin pointedly. ' I am keeping an eye on both of them.'

' That's unfair!' Anakin whined, while Ghost-Anakin was... Sipping tea? Except his teacup looked as ghostly and bluish as he was.

' How can you drink tea?' Ahsoka asked. ' You are a ghost.'

' I have my ways,' Ghost-Anakin winked. ' So now... About that Lux Bonteri guy-'

Well, Ahsoka didn't even attempt to listen to him, because she was already running over to meet up with her good friend.

Luke watched (they were faraway, and he couldn't really hear what they were talking about), while they hugged. They did some friendly chit chat, a lot of laughing, giggling, and both of his fathers' faces were shining murderously.

Finally, before they parted ways, Ahsoka gave Lux a kiss on the cheek (unknown to her, Ghost-Anakin's ghostly teacup literally shattered in his hand at the sight) and skipped off to talk to Sabine and Hera. Oh boy. Both of his fathers were going nuts. Luke wouldn't be surprised if they would go Dark Side all over again or explode like the Death Star. It could be both. But to show his support to his friend, he secretly flashed her a thumbs-up.

Thankfully, before both Anakins could run around and explode in anger, Pooja announced with a smile that the ceremony would begin in a few minutes and asked all of them to get seated. Ghost-Anakin huffed and disappeared to join Obi-wan.

All of them flocked to the large veranda, where chairs were already placed. ' The initiates did a pretty good job of decorating the veranda,' Luke smiled. Anakin simply grunted as a response.

Both of them sat together with the Ghost-Crew, but Ahsoka was nowhere to be seen. Luke reckoned that she was either sitting with the bridesmaid or with Riyo or with Lux. He decided not to mention the latter.

Han was standing on the altar, right in front of Mon Mothma. He looked like he could faint any moment. In fact, his hair was so messy due to the fact he kept scratching his head out of anxiety.

Then, Leia appeared, escorted by a bridesmaid. Anakin couldn't help but think that she looked exactly like her mother, and fought the urge to cry. Instead, he bent forward to speak to Luke, ' Dude, I can't believe Snips helped do her hair... It's perfect...'

Once Han was joined by Leia at the altar, Mon Mothma cleared her throat, and started saying the usual wedding speech, of love and all the other stuff (unfortunately Caleb fell asleep halfway). Afterwards, the bride and groom said their vows, and Mon Mothma asked for the rings.

At this point, Luke turned around and found Ghost-Anakin standing all the way at the back, sobbing quietly (read dramatically) into a ghostly handkerchief. Somehow, he had forgotten his anger. Obi-wan and Yoda just patted him on his back and muttered words. Thankfully, only Force-sensitives could see them, or else it would make quite a scene. Though, Ahsoka, Kanan and Ezra were all glancing at him curiously.

However, they had forgotten that 3PO was the ring bearer. They had been so absorbed in the magical moment, that they nearly forgot that 3PO and R2 were standing at the very front.

' You rusty bucket of bolts!' 3PO kicked at R2, completely oblivious that everyone was looking at them weirdly. ' Give me back the rings!' R2 simply made a series of jeering noises, its robotic hand clutching the two wedding rings. The situation was getting rather out of hand, so Mon Mothma said severely, ' Excuse me. May I have the rings?'

R2 fell silent and discreetly handed back the rings to 3PO. 3PO mumbled, ' Oh, how embarrassing. R2, that's entirely your fault!' and wobbled forward to give the rings to Mon Mothma.

The ceremony ended after Han and Leia exchanged rings and kissed. Everyone scrambled out of their chairs, and went back to the party.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka asked Ghost-Anakin, ' Where the heck did you get this handkerchief?'

' Oh,' Ghost-Anakin said dramatically, while folding the handkerchief neatly. ' I get so emotional sometimes... And it is just... My daughter getting married. It just isn't everyday your daughter gets married... Though I guess she still hates me.'

 _Oh, you don't know,_ Ahsoka smiled secretly, and went back to join the Ghost Crew.

* * *

The very next morning, everyone was ready to get back to their normal life. The hangar was starting to empty out, as one by one of the Senators left, still chatting happily about how magical and fun the last night was. Lux gave Ahsoka a hug before he left on his ship, which greatly annoyed both Anakins, but Ahsoka was pretty cool with it.

Since Han won't be flying them home (he needed to spend more time with his new wife), Wedge kindly borrowed them a cruiser, so they could get back to Yavin.

Before everyone could step into their respective cruisers, Leia came bounding towards them, ' Wait! Wait!'

Luke peered at her, ' What's up, sis? Aren't you supposed to be relaxing and enjoy your time with Han as lovebirds?'

' Gah,' Leia glared at her brother. ' Please. It's just... I nearly forgot to tell you... I was researching about how the Jedi training stuff ended up inside that storage room of yours...'

Ezra said, startled, ' What training stuff?'

' She means the training droids and training lightsabers we found in that hidden storage room,' Caleb remarked. ' Oh, we've nearly forgotten about them.' It was true. They were getting quite used to the training equipments, and they completely forgot about trying to discover how they showed up.

' Yes,' Leia waved off. ' I've been tracking stuff for you. And it turned out that my adopted father, Bail Organa, was in charge of that abandoned fortress. He was the one who kept track of all the items in there.'

' What?' Kanan said.

' Yes. But unfortunately, we can't ask him personally, since he died with Alderaan,' Leia explained (Ghost-Anakin casually lurked past). ' But because he was the person in charge, he must have had something to do with those equipments. Something tells me that he was the one who placed the equipments in that storage room.'

' This sounds reasonable,' Luke pondered. ' But... There is no way your adopted father managed to creep past all the Stormtroopers stationed outside of the old Jedi Temple and take away so many stuff. In fact, no one can do that.'

' You are half correct,' Leia shook her head. ' True, normal people can't. But that is not the case for people with superhuman strength and speed.'

' Are you implying...' Ahsoka seemed to pick up what Leia had in mind. ' That a Jedi did it?'

' Maybe,' Leia shrugged. ' We don't know for sure. I'll keep trying to find out. Anyways... Han must be looking for me. See you!'

Luke shook his head and smiled as his sister sped off to join her new husband.

 **:D**

 **Is anyone is excited for the next SWR episode (Shroud of Darkness)... There's gonna be Master Yoda and most importantly, Darth Vader! XD**

 **Anyways... Just wondering if you guys and your friends influence each other when it comes to fandoms, because me and my friends influence each other all the time. :) Just like I 'influenced' my friend to read Harry Potter, then my classmates 'influenced' me to watch Assassination Classroom (an anime), and I would in return 'influence' them to watch Star Wars. That way, we join a lot of fandoms... XD**

 **Hmm. Wondering which fandom I will join next...**


	20. Chapter 20

' Tell us a bit more about the Clone Wars!' Jeremi said, trying to make the best puppy eyes.

It was just the typical before bed hours where the instructors would tell bedtime stories. Zeb (surprisingly) was the one who came up with the idea when Luke spoke of improving the kids' language skills. Caleb jumped to the idea with great interest, and admitted, ' If the Temple had taught Language in the form of story telling, I think I would have liked Language classes better.' So, the bedtime story sessions established just right before the wedding days.

Usually, the plot of the stories revolved around the Rebel vs Empire era, and rarely did they have the chance to speak of the old Republic. Though, by chance, Hera (who was on duty for story telling that day) spoke of her childhood on Ryloth and briefly mentioned the Clone Wars. This sparked the children's interests.

Since then, they had been begging at Kanan, Anakin or Ahsoka non-stop to tell them about the Clone Wars. Kanan didn't really like it, and always avoided mentioning the Clone Wars. Anakin would talk a bit about the topic, but was extremely reserved and would suddenly pull away from the topic to talk about droid programming instead, which greatly bored the initiates. Ahsoka was pretty cool with it.

Unfortunately that day, Kanan was on duty with Sabine. Since Sabine was just a toddler when the Empire came into place, so naturally, she knew a little about the Clone Wars. She trained in the arts of Mandalorian fighting, and the next moment she was a cadet in the Imperial Academy. ' Soooo. I won't be much of a help today then,' Sabine slid out of the room. ' I'll leave the stage to you, Kanan. I'll be going to finish my amazing art project.'

' Ugh,' Kanan groaned, after giving Sabine an evil look. ' Fine. Just today, because I am in a good mood and both Ezra and Caleb are behaving. What do you want to know?'

' Sweet!' Moki grinned. ' We'd like to know about the clones.'

' Wait, the clones?' Kanan raised an eyebrow.

Kira, who was quite studious, nodded, ' Yeah. I was reading the books the Princess bought us that day, and one of them was about the Rise and Fall of the Jedi Order. Then the term Order 66 came across me. So I was wondering... Weren't clones supposed to be on the Jedi's side? How come this happened?'

' Um,' Kanan looked as if Kira had asked him to swallow a lemon. ' That...'

Luckily, Gloria sighed, ' Kira, it's supposed to be _story_ time, not _history_ class. Can we leave that for another day? I think all of us would like to hear about the stories of clones instead.'

' Fine,' Kanan closed his eyes, secretly wondering how Ahsoka managed to survive through the flurry of questions, but then, he used to ask a lot of questions when he was a kid, so he was in no place to complain about curious kids (though he was actually quite shocked when the ghost of Obi-wan Kenobi told him pleasantly about the beacon that warned away all the Jedi, which was inspired by his one of his questions about the functions of the Temple beacon).

He spoke of the first few battles he was in with Master Billaba, and how the Jedi worked along with clones. He described the friendship between clones and Jedi to the kids. The stories really brought back great memories, and for once, Kanan was fully submerged in his good old times.

' Master Jarrus?' Kira asked after a while. ' I don't mean to bring this up, but I heard most of the original clones from the Republic were either dead or became Stormtroopers. Do you happen to know clones who escaped this fate? Maybe clones that left the Empire?'

' Oh,' Kanan smiled, thinking of the first time he met Rex on Seelos. ' I do. In fact... The few clones I know... They serve under the Rebel Alliance as well.'

' OHHH!' Aria shrieked in excitement. ' Really? Really? Where? Can we meet them?'

Hmm. Really. Where could Rex be? He never really gave thought. The last time he heard of Rex was... Years ago. Apparently he went back onto Seelos to join with Wolffe and Gregor. It would be insanely hard to keep contact with him on that desert planet.

' Quite hard...' Kanan scratched his head. ' We haven't been in contact for quite some while.'

' Awww!' The kids complained, disappointed.

' That's quite enough for today,' Sabine popped back in. ' Everyone, it's time to go to bed! And you shall see my finished art work next morning.'

* * *

Ghost-Anakin stirred his cup of tea with a flickering spoon with such elegance that Obi-wan would be proud.

' What does your tea even taste like?' Zeb finally said, totally annoyed by the clinking noises the spoon was making.

' Hm, bland,' Ghost-Anakin downed the tea. ' I definitely prefer Obi-wan's special herbal tea, but well, I mustn't be picky. I'm training myself to solidify enough to consume human food... Anyways, I am drifting away from my original topic. What was that? Right. About the clones.'

Sure enough, Kanan had been talking to them about retrieving Rex from Seelos. All of them agreed at once, so Ahsoka had disappeared into her room for nearly an hour to contact higher ranking officials in the Rebel Alliance and seek for help to trace down Rex's AT-TE.

' Rex was a good man,' Anakin said. ' The best captain one can ask for.'

' Yes, yes,' Ghost-Anakin waved off impatiently. ' I know. Though I haven't seen him for quite some time, so nice, you are bringing him back, right?'

Caleb seized the chance to fire questions at Ghost-Anakin, ' Master Skywalker, is it true Captain Rex wasn't involved in the Purge? How so? Did he leave the republic in the middle of war? How did he receive the knowledge of the chips?'

Ghost-Anakin wasn't stressed out by the string of questions at all, ' Rex's leadership position was eventually handed over to Appo, who by the way, was another good soldier. He never was quite the same after Fives's death, and I don't blame him at all. He spent most of his days wondering what Fives meant, while most of us didn't really care. One day, he just resigned.'

' Woah, he just walked out?' Caleb said, amazed. ' And you guys let him? Is that even legal?'

' It is,' Anakin offered (who happened to know a lot about the Republic law, since his wife was always repeating it to him). ' It is legal. Kind of. Something like retirement. But... You just let him walk away? How could you?'

' What?' Ghost-Anakin seemed scandalised. ' I can't just go barging around to block people's freedom! Though Master Plo Koon wasn't pleased when Rex took along Wolffe as he left. Like I said, I'd be very pleased to see him again. He is well, isn't he?'

' Yeah... Except for the time you nearly sliced off his arm,' Sabine recalled, remembering one certain battle.

' Wait, when was that?'

' That time... You should remember... In the rain.'

' Ohhhh,' Realisation and horror dawned on Ghost-Anakin's face at once. ' Ohhh. That was him? Among you people?'

' Yes,' Zeb confirmed. ' I remember too.'

' Ahhh. Um,' Ghost-Anakin said, trying not to flush. ' I didn't know. So what happened?'

' A rather nasty burn,' Ezra shook his head. ' Loads of bacta patches.'

' I didn't mean it...' Ghost-Anakin said in horror.

' It's just a joke. Calm down,' Caleb smiled cheerfully, but Ghost-Anakin didn't look quite convinced.

 **Oh hi! XD**

 **Just recovered from my phase of 'mourning a character'. Apparently, a fictional character that our class collectively likes (a rare occasion) died in the latest instalment. Though it wasn't like we didn't see it coming or the fact I got spoiled about the plot right away when a wailing classmate came running towards me, all of us cried so much *who's cutting the onions anyway*. Our eyes were literally waterfalls. The last few times I cried about a character was probably during the Clone Wars S5 finale or Sherlock (The Reichenbach Fall). *sniff sniff***

 **So I had better cheer myself up with some Star Wars. :P**


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry for a late update, because fanfiction wasn't working on my laptop yesterday. But so glad it's back working today! XD**

It turned out the search party was extremely efficient in their job, because just shortly after Ahsoka finished her call of telling them what to do and who to find, the leader of the party called to tell her that they had succeeded. The leader was a young Twi'lek by the name of Anna, and Ahsoka had many experiences of working with her before.

' That AT-TE was kind of hard to miss,' Anna grinned. ' Walking under the sun like that. It could use some polishing though.'

' Great,' Ahsoka breathed, relieved. ' How is he?' She had been worried that the search party would not be able to find where Rex's AT-TE was, seeing that Seelos was quite a big planet.

Anna looked over her shoulder, peering behind for a moment. There was some muffled conversation. ' Oh, right, sorry about that just now, it was one of the members,' She glanced carelessly to the right. ' Yeah, he was just telling me that your friend is willing to come with us. You want him and his friends escorted to Yavin 4, is that right?'

' Yes, thanks so much,' Ahsoka beamed. ' We'll receive you guys at the hangar. You can probably spot it after you get into the planet's atmosphere. Big white block in the middle of green woods.'

' No worries,' Anna waved off. ' We'll find it. See ya!' And the call was disconnected.

Okay. Mission accomplished. Ahsoka stowed away her official (aka reserved-for-important-calls-only, according to Anakin) comlink, and prepared to stroll off to the hangar to wait for Anna and her team.

After two seconds of contemplation on her way to the hangar, she decided not to break the news to the rest of the people yet. They were probably listening to Ghost-Anakin ranting nonstop about the Clone Wars or lecturing them on different machine parts. Either topic was annoying. So it should be a surprise visit to pick them away from boredom.

* * *

Well, Ahsoka was right. In some ways. Ghost-Anakin was lecturing them on annoying topics about droid parts, but then, he started to drift off to rant about Obi-wan's latest vacation spot. Everyone was pretending to be extremely interested about the topic (Ezra made no attempt though, he fell asleep peacefully in the first five minutes), while Caleb was the most interested of all.

' That old man,' Ghost-Anakin complained. ' Went off to some planet for a day trip again. It was called Jakku, or something. Yeah.'

' Jakku?' Caleb said excitedly. ' I may have heard this planet a long time ago... Isn't it a desert planet? It's pretty faraway. I heard there are a lot of scavengers too. So why would Master Kenobi go on a vacation on such a sandy and dry planet? He could have gone to somewhere better, like Naboo.'

' I know right! Hurray for Naboo!' Ghost-Anakin exclaimed. ' He's totally doing that only to tick me off. He knows I hate desert planets. Especially the sand. I hate sand. It just gets everywhere. That's why I don't really like Tatooine.'

Luke rolled his eyes. Sure Tatooine was boring, but he had lived there for most of his life. He couldn't see why his father hated the place _that_ much. The other Anakin was just sitting there, silent.

On the other hand, Zeb groaned silently to Sabine, ' Do we have to sit here and listen to him whine about sand?'

' Possibly,' Sabine rest her palms on the floor to get herself in a more comfortable sitting position. ' Let's just hope something interesting happens.'

* * *

' Wow that's pretty quick,' Ahsoka rushed to where the Rebel Alliance cruiser was parked at. And her friend Anna basically just jumped off the ramp to greet her, her bead accessories clinking as she moved.

Anna had always had a penchant for wearing excess bead jewellery. The last time she saw her, she was wearing at least ten bead necklaces of different length around her neck. This time, she was wearing bracelets all over her right arm. Ahsoka never knew why she was so obsessed with jewellery.

' Helloooo Ahsoka!' She greeted delightedly. ' Haven't seen you for a quite a long while! And we have your friends!' She turned her face to shout for her crew, ' Zack! Would you mind escorting those lovely gentlemen outside?'

' Yes ma'am!' A man replied jokingly.

' Your friends, are they clones?' Anna asked.

' Yeah,' Ahsoka answered, taken back by the sudden question. ' Why ask?'

' I couldn't help but notice that they look quite old,' Anna explained. ' You know, I was around 8 years old during the Clone Wars, and I had studied about them before. Aren't they genetically coded to have growth acceleration? That sucks.'

Ahsoka nodded sadly, ' Yes. So that's why they are so old now.'

' Well, the good news is, I've asked the Alliance scientists for help. Even though they may have removed their programming chips, they might have some scientific ways to help them slow down their growth. How's that?' Anna smiled.

Ahsoka stared at her friend, ' Wow... I mean...'

' Also, their AT-TE functions well, but it's rather old,' She suggested. ' An ancient model. I'll have to ask them later if they would like it replaced.'

' Nah, we've been with that thing for ages. Grown rather attached to it. Can we get it fixed?' A voice answered behind Anna.

' Of course Mister Rex,' Anna said quickly. ' I'll ask my crew to send it to the technicians right away. I'll see to it at once. Anyways, I should get going.' Zack and Anna hopped back onto the cruiser, and within a couple seconds, the engines started and it flew away.

Ahsoka focused on Rex, Wolffe and Gregor. ' Gosh, it's been a long time,' She hugged each of the men. ' How's everything going? And... How's your arm, Rex?'

Rex touched a slightly jagged lightsaber scar on his arm, ' It could've been worse. So... New Jedi Order, huh. You're a Jedi Master now, right?'

' Yes.'

Wolffe said softly, ' General Plo Koon would have been proud.' He had worked with Plo Koon for quite a long while, and he knew the General had always been fond of Ahsoka. Gregor muttered something unintelligible, but he meant well.

' General Skywalker would have been proud too,' Rex said, slightly regretfully, still remembering the last time he met Darth Vader. If Vader had been in a terrible mood that day, he would have lost an arm. Fortunately, he was just toying around with them at that time.

' You'll see,' Ahsoka said mysteriously. ' First, let me take you to see Luke. He would love to meet you.'

She led them to the dining room, where Ghost-Anakin was still busily describing how he hated sand. Ezra had somehow jolted awake.

' Good, you are back, Ahsoka,' Luke said, eager to interrupt his father's speech. ' What...'

' Yes, the search party showed up just now. Everyone, meet Rex, Gregor and Wolffe,' Ahsoka introduced.

Ezra shrieked, ' REEEEEEX! GOOD OLD BUDDY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?'

Before Rex could reply, he found himself looking at the double Anakins.

 **Aaaah. Long AN! The new SWR episode was simply amazing. It was so good I was sobbing throughout the entire episode. :') A bit of spoilers below, so for those who haven't watched it yet, I advise you to watch it before reading below. You have been warned.**

 **I seriously applaud Star Wars for the plot twist at the back. Wow. Seriously. I was squealing like a pig when I saw it, and my friend thought I was crazy when I ran screaming to her.**

 ***YODA!***

 **Also, it turned out that TCW S5E20 wasn't the last time Ahsoka saw Anakin. She saw him once before he ran to save the Chancellor. Hm. I wonder if this detail will ever be explained. The writers would not put it there for no purpose or without further explanation. Hmm.**


	22. Chapter 22

Rex stared between Ghost-Anakin and Anakin incredulously. Recognition was starting to dawn on Wolffe as well, because his jaw was dropping at an alarming rate. Gregor couldn't recognise them at all, seeing that he was starting to sing to himself under his breath.

' We don't have all day,' Ghost-Anakin said dramatically. ' Take a seat, good Captain Rex.'

Rex's voice was shaking, ' Y-you... Whoever you are, Anakin Skywalker should be dead. You are an impostor.'

Ghost-Anakin made a heart-broken face, ' I know you may be upset with me for nearly cutting off your arm, but disowning your own General? That's something else.'

At that point, Rex was so confused and angry at once, that he wasn't able to say anything. He desperately looked to the direction of Ahsoka, in hopes that she would just shout out 'that's one joke only, Rex! That is a fake holo, see?' But alas, this never came. Instead, Ahsoka simply looked back with a blank expression.

Finally, Rex demanded, ' But that is impossible! It can't be! Vader is dead! He should be dead! And... How do you explain this extra... Vader?'

' Extra?' Anakin repeated. ' I am not an extra! I am me! Secondly, I am not called Vader! That is a ridiculous name. I'd rather call myself Kenobi.'

' Have some respect for that name please,' Ghost-Anakin frowned. ' I have used the name for a few decades. Can't say I love it, but-'

' Do shut up.'

The Ghost Crew watched the argument with mild amusement, and looked back and forth as if this was just a simple bolo ball match.

Ahsoka tried to lessen the tension of the situation, ' Listen to me, Rex, this is a long story. Gah. I've repeated the story for so many times already.'

The commotion was interrupted by some crunching sounds of cookies. They had been too busy trying to calm Rex down and they hadn't even noticed that Caleb had quietly escaped from the room at the beginning to sneak the cookie jar away from the kitchen. There he was, standing at the doorway, casually eating cookie after cookie from the jar while surveying the scene.

' I can help with telling the story to dear Mr. Rex,' Caleb chewed on another cookie. ' Want a cookie?'

Wolffe narrowed his eyes at Caleb, ' You... Aren't you... That boy... Who blundered right into the milk cart... Into the wall? I remember you. That was a long time ago, I mean. How come you are still a kid though?'

' Ah, you mean that time,' Caleb recalled brightly.

' Yes... Aren't you that boy who tripped over Master Yoda?' Rex asked suspiciously.

' Yes, yes,' Caleb picked another cookie from the jar. ' Though I adore questions, now... It is story session. Stories first, and questions last. Okay?'

* * *

Ezra had to admit Caleb was a good story teller. He somehow described the entire time travel fiasco accurately to the three confused clones, and made everything sound extremely convincing.

' So,' Caleb finished happily. ' This, my friend, is the ghost of Master Skywalker. But that, is the real Master Skywalker from the past. And _that,_ is Master Luke Skywalker.' Rex was getting dangerously quiet.

' You know, Rex, I know you are angry and stuff, but I am really sorry,' Ghost-Anakin dipped his head apologetically. ' I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. You aren't really that angry, right?'

' _Angry_?' Rex shook his head with disbelief. ' _Angry?_ I am not angry, General! I am _disappointed_! How could you do that? How could you take my men and just storm the Jedi? They were your friends!' He spoke with such ferocity that even Anakin flinched.

' I said I'm sorry!' Ghost-Anakin shouted in panic over the noise.

' Is it too late now to say sorry?' Gregor mumbled suddenly, and everyone looked at him with a surprised expression.

' That's quite enough of Anakin bashing for today,' Ahsoka came to Ghost-Anakin's rescue hastily. ' We all know Skyguy is a jerk. I gave him enough _chastising_ for the last few months, and he is now very sorry. Though, don't be so harsh on the past Anakin, okay? He hasn't done anything yet.'

' Alright then,' Rex said reluctantly and turned to face the younger Anakin. ' Well, General, I didn't expect to see you, looking so young again.'

' I am young,' Anakin said brightly. ' Nice to meet you again, dear Captain. Of course I would say the same if it weren't for the fact that I meet your younger counterpart everyday in the past.'

' Well, how is my younger counterpart?' Rex joked good-naturedly.

' I'd like to know how is my younger counterpart too,' Wolffe said. ' Gregor would love to, too. But he has been missing in action for quite some while.'

' You mean he is that Commando Gregor?' Anakin thought for a moment. ' The one who was missing from the Battle of Sarrish? I heard Obi-wan saying that to me once. Terrible battle, it was. But I'm so glad you are fine.'

' Now now!' Ghost-Anakin fumed. ' Why does he get preferential treatment?'

' Because I'm cool,' Anakin replied proudly, as if this was the most obvious thing in the entire galaxy.

' Argh,' Zeb and Sabine groaned.

Ahsoka said, ' Everyone is getting bored of your narcissism, Skyguy. Please do us a favour by bringing dear Rex, Wolffe and Gregor up to their rooms. I'm sure Luke had the rooms prepared?'

' Yes,' Luke nodded. ' Three rooms, on the first floor. Just pick a random, empty one.'

They watched as Anakin generously ushered the clones out of the room.

After a while, before Luke could speak, a tiny pop signalled the arrival of Obi-wan's ghost.

' I heard the cheerful calling of my name just now,' He said cheerfully. ' So I popped here all the way from Jakku. So, what's up?'

' Cheerful?' Ghost-Anakin echoed disdainfully. ' I just got disowned! How do you expect me to be cheerful? You really assume too much.'

Obi-wan gasped at Luke, ' _Disown_? You disowned your own father, Luke? How can that be?'

' What? Ben! No! Not me!' Luke scooted away from Obi-wan to hide behind Kanan's back. ' I never said that! Tell him!'

' Was that you then, Ahsoka?' Obi-wan glanced at Ahsoka severely. ' Did you disown your own Master?'

' What?' Ahsoka frowned. ' Oh, Master Obi-wan, you must have misunderstood!'

' Well,' Caleb set aside the empty cookie jar (he had eaten so much that he was sitting in the middle of a mountain of crumbs). ' It wasn't Master Luke. It wasn't Master Tano either. It was Mr. Rex, to be exact.'

' Rex? As in Captain Rex of the 501st?' Obi-wan raised an eyebrow when understanding hit home. ' Oho! I get it! Does he blame you for nearly taking his hand? That's too bad, my former Padawan. What else?'

' Oh, Wolffe and Gregor came along too,' Caleb started to brush off crumbs from his lap.

' Gregor!' Obi-wan gasped, shocked. ' I thought he died! That very last time he went missing on the Battle of Sarrish. Then, the other time I heard dear Colonel Meebur Gascon tell me that he ended up on Pons Ora, but was killed in action in an explosion!'

' Apparently he did not,' Ezra confirmed. ' He survived the explosions but now suffers from mild insanity. Somehow Rex found him and picked him up to live with them. He removed his inhibitor chip as well.'

' Good man, Rex is,' Obi-wan said approvingly.

' Yeah I know! But he disowned me!' Ghost-Anakin shouted in a hurt tone.

' You got to gain back his trust,' Kanan said truthfully. ' And, um, you can reconcile with him.'

' That's impossible!' Ghost-Anakin wailed.

' It is not,' Hera nodded. ' You just have to let him know that you are... er, extremely trustworthy, and you mean well. That's not really hard. I used to think that it is impossible to reconcile with my father. But hey, it worked out in the end.'

' Yeah, like the time I spilled caff onto Master Windu's robes,' Caleb said thoughtfully. ' And he forgave me.'

 **Whoop whoop! :D**

 **Yeah... I need to go to bed early... Because I have this history quiz tomorrow... :/ Here is one daily 'Me and Star Wars' (yeah that is the best name I can come up with):**

 **Me: Hey, just a brief reminder in case you forget, that math project is due tomorrow.**

 **Friend: I know.**

 **Me: *sings Han Solo and the Princess theme loudly to attract nearby classmates' attention***

 **Friend: Oh stop that. Please.**

 **(an hour later)**

 **Classmate: We need to buy fruit for the cooking project.**

 **Friend: I know.**

 **Me: *pops out of nowhere and sings Han and the Princess theme again***

 **Classmate: What was that?**

 **Friend: (annoyed) Do you literally have to sing that theme every time I say 'I know'?**

 **Me: Yep.**

 **Friend: *starts fuming* You know, I am getting very angry.**

 **Me: *sings Imperial March and runs away***


	23. Chapter 23

No one was anxious to listen to Ghost-Anakin's rants about sand again (he constantly spoke of sand whenever he was upset), so they wisely made excuses and departed before Anakin returned.

Obi-wan, on the other hand, was warmly invited by Luke to lead the day's Language class. He pleasantly agreed, since that was one of his favourite subjects to teach and he was anxious to get away from Ghost-Anakin as soon as possible.

But before he left for the class, Caleb went over to him boldly to tell him his opinions and requested for a more interesting topic for language classes. Obi-wan pondered over the sudden request for a while, then nodded at the young boy.

' Good morning younglings,' He addressed the class kindly. ' Master Luke Skywalker has asked me to take up today's Language class, so here I am.'

The class looked up at the wise old Jedi Master with wide, expectant eyes. ' Master Kenobi, you still look ghostly!' Jacie joked.

' Well of course I am, Jacie,' Obi-wan replied, secretly proud that he learnt each and every one of the students' names. ' I am a ghost. Anyways... Padawan Caleb Dume requested for a change in topic so that is what I am about to do. We're going to discuss a random topic of your own choice for the first half of the hour, as a treat.'

' Woah, any topic?' Aria whooped.

' Yes,' Obi-wan said.

' Wizard,' Moki breathed. So the initiates started to whisper quietly to each other about what they wanted to talk about.

Obi-wan waited for a minute or so, and asked, ' Okay, so do we have an answer?'

' Yes,' Gloria announced. ' We'd like to ask about Force Ghosts. Like, can we become Force Ghosts like you after we die? It'd be absolutely cool if we could.'

' Morphing yourself into a Force Ghost requires a high level of Force abilities,' Obi-wan explained. ' My own master Qui-gon Jinn spent years to train after he discovered the secret, and still, his skills weren't complete by the time he died. So he was only able to speak in visions. Master Yoda spent most of his years on Dagobah learning. I too trained hard on Tatooine. But it isn't impossible, so yes, someday, you can.'

' Then how did Master Skywalker learn to do it so quickly?' Gregg asked curiously.

' Well, he has always been a capable Force user, so it isn't much of a surprise,' Obi-wan shrugged. ' That lucky duck. Anyways... Anything else you want to know? Ask anything you want.'

Jeremi stated, ' I have a question in mind. What if someone is a Jedi, but he or she has never been taught the trick of how to become a Force Ghost. What ever happens to them after they die? Do they just float and swim around in the Force, unable to retain an identity?'

' Good question, Jeremi,' Obi-wan smiled serenely. ' Let me give you an example... Master Mace Windu... He was one of the best Jedi Masters in the old Order. He was killed by um, Darth Sidious. A very untimely death. Even though he never learnt the trick, he was able to maintain some of his old identity. Sometimes when he has enough energy, he can turn himself into some kind of vision. But most of the time, I can only sense him through the Force, especially his nagging voice.'

' Nagging voice?' Lora said in awe.

' Yeah... To nag Master Anakin Skywalker,' Obi-wan snickered. ' Good thing Master Windu is still around to help me keep an eye on him. So, that's all. Let's get back to the poem, shall we?'

* * *

Ahsoka's cooking skills definitely improved throughout the years. By evening, she cooked up an amazing dinner of burgers.

Rex ate his burger with a smile, remembering of the smoking, burnt soufflé she had presented to him and his men a long time ago during the war. She had grown so much.

Everyone was having their usual dinner chit chat, their moods improving significantly because of the delicious meal. They hadn't noticed that Ghost-Anakin had quietly walked out to sit near the woods. But Rex did. So he followed him.

' General Skywalker,' He addressed his former General cautiously.

' Rex,' Ghost-Anakin greeted back, too surprised. ' Please take a seat. What is it?'

' I've meant to ask you this question for quite some while,' Rex said. ' It has been bothering me for a long time.'

' Ask away.'

' What happened to the men after I left?' To be honest, he was terrified of what his General was about to tell him. He had always hated the thought of his own men storming the Temple and killing Jedi, and wondered if his good men were working as Stormtroopers. It sickened him terribly.

' Men?' Ghost-Anakin repeated, puzzled. ' What men?'

' Men, as in my men, or to be exact, your men. The 501st. The Torrent Company. Kix. Jesse. Coric. Hawk. Dogma. Appo. Lots more. And my friends, like Cody, Gree, Fox and Bly.'

' Ah,' Ghost-Anakin looked back at the forest. ' I knew you would ask. Now, let me tell you. Your Company _wasn't_ involved in Order 66 at all.'

' Wait,' Rex held up a hand, confused. ' But... They said the 501st... Stormed... Then who...'

' Those were the shinies,' Ghost-Anakin explained with a twisted smile. ' The Torrent Company was involved in the Battle of Coruscant, but they were caught up in a terrible explosion. All of them were severely injured and were immediately transferred to a Kaminoan medical centre for intensive bacta treatment and a couple months worth of bed rest. Can't do much harm when Order 66 came down.'

' So... They were in medical centres...' Rex had never felt better. ' They... Didn't kill anyone. Good... But... What happened after they recovered?'

' The Republic's fall shocked them. Soon enough, Kix was the first to resign. Then, the others followed suit,' Ghost-Anakin shrugged. ' Dogma was released right after the Empire established. However, he resigned as well. And I approved them. Never heard of them again. Some rumours said that they lived together and constantly moved from one planet to another. Guess they didn't want to get involved in the Empire or get tracked down. Shame. We could have used some good medics like Kix, because the other Stormtrooper medics were complete idiots.'

' You actually approved the requests?' Rex's jaw dropped. ' But...'

' Well, I have no right to take away my men's freedom,' Ghost-Anakin said innocently, though Rex sensed there was something more to that. But he seriously couldn't imagine that Darth Vader would calmly approve his men's retirement requests without going on a murdering spree. Guess he always had a certain fondness for them.

' Also, I hate to say this, but Appo died in a mission a couple years after,' Ghost-Anakin continued. ' Who else's fate would you like to know?'

' Cody and the others.'

' Well, Cody eventually resigned as well a couple months after Utapau. Bly and Fox resigned together six months after the establishment of the Empire. Alas Gree was assigned to Master Yoda when the order came down, and he didn't survive,' Ghost-Anakin dipped his head. ' I am sorry.'

Rex's throat felt like sawdust. Of course he knew that no one could stand a chance against the Jedi Grandmaster, despite his small size and old age. However, he felt quite sad when he heard of Gree's sad fate. He had always liked the man.

' You know, I have said that for quite a while already, but I'm really sorry for everything I have done,' Ghost-Anakin said softly, and was starting to get interested at staring at a bush. ' I messed up. A lot.'

After a while, Rex sighed, ' Alright, fine. I forgive you, General. Everyone makes mistakes. What matters the most is whether one truly wants to make up for it. I know you have tried.'

' I did,' Ghost-Anakin beamed, overly excited that he had his good friend back at long last so he ditched his professional demeanour. ' So s'up?'

' Fine, I guess,' Rex hesitated. ' So... The little one is now a Jedi Master. How do you feel about it?'

' As happy as a Master should be,' He replied proudly. ' I always knew she would make an awesome Knight or Master. Even till the end.'

' But as Vader, I knew you were angry at her for leaving,' Rex snapped his fingers, remembering Ahsoka's terrifying experience in the Lothal Temple.

' Well yes, I was angry,' Ghost-Anakin agreed, completely unfazed. ' Mostly hurt and lonely, but angry as well. I thought she was selfish. She abandoned me when I most needed her. I resented her. But in the end... I guess I was the most selfish of all.'

' Yeah right,' Rex nodded in understanding. ' I see.'

' Anyways, everything is perfect now. My daughter is married. My Padawan is now a Master. I got friends,' Ghost-Anakin grinned contentedly. ' Best life ever. And now, good Captain, let's get indoors to gloat at the others.'

 **Hello there! :D Time for the 'Me and Star Wars' section (should I make this a trademark type of thing? Maybe for every fic I do, I should make a 'Me and *insert fandom* section)**

 **Classmate: *yawns into her hand and accidentally makes a sound that kind of sounds like Darth Vader's breathing***

 **Me: *gasps* You just did a Darth Vader noise!**

 **Classmate: What? I don't know what you are talking about. *yawns again* I don't even know what Darth Vader sounds like.**

 **Friend: No no, you just did it again! Let us show you.**

 **Me and Friend: *purposely imitates Darth Vader breathing***

 **Classmate: No way. That doesn't even sound similar.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Just wondering how many of you ship Kanan and Hera XD**

' Ow, Caleb, be careful! You stepped on my hand!'

' I can't see! Don't blame me for that!'

Caleb and Ezra were up crawling in the heating vents, in hopes of sneaking up on somebody as a good prank. It was Caleb who suggested that, and so the boys simply popped down a random vent cover with the Force, then tried jumping into it. Ezra was surprised that he was able to fit into it even after how much he had grown.

However, it occurred that the cleaning staff that Leia dispatched had forgotten to clean the vents, seeing that there was dust everywhere, but it didn't dampen their excitement at all. They made a mental note to ask Ahsoka for help to clean the vents later, for future pranking's sake.

Anyways, their little journey in the darkness didn't go as well as they had hoped, because they kept bumping into each other or in Caleb's case, stepping on Ezra's hand. ' That seriously won't work,' Ezra finally sighed, and remembering of Ahsoka's advise a long, long time ago, he reached for his lightsaber. He ignited his blue blade. It wasn't much, but at least it served as a good source of light.

' Great,' Caleb tried to dodge the lightsaber blade. ' Now, be careful and don't point it at me. I don't want to lose any of my limbs.'

' Fine!' Ezra tilted his lightsaber away. ' So we have our light at last. Who exactly are we going to prank?'

' Dunno, Master Luke Skywalker, perhaps?' Caleb tried to shrug.

' You'd be crazy to prank the Jedi Grandmaster,' Ezra chuckled. ' What about pranking Mister Anakin?'

' Oh yeah, let's try.'

Relying on the bluish glow from the lightsaber, they crawled through the vents, and with the help of their memory, they retraced a path to Anakin's quarters. Eventually they found the man's room, by peeking down a vent cover. It turned out he was still... Sleeping and dead to the world.

' Dude, it's 10 in the morning and he's still not up,' Caleb said in awe. ' There is absolutely no way we can prank him.'

They tried to turn around to leave that area, but Caleb accidentally elbowed Ezra in the face, which caused the boy to topple over and directly crash down the vent.

Ezra was falling down quickly, but he reacted quick enough to reduce the landing impact (both Anakin and him would be flattened) by cushioning himself with the Force. Fortunately, it worked because he just flopped harmlessly onto Anakin's back.

' Uggggggggg,' Anakin moaned groggily, and when he found Ezra sitting on his bed, he gave a small shriek and edged away from the boy accusingly. ' Good lord! You have a tendency of trying to flatten me, don't you?'

' It was an accident, I promise you,' Caleb's face appeared above (he was peeking down nervously). ' We intend to prank someone else. And we would appreciate it very much if you can keep our, um, plan secret.'

' Fine then,' Anakin yawned, climbing back into his covers. ' I'm going back to bed. Run along, run along.' Ezra, whose face was red in embarrassment, jumped back into the vents and dragging the cover along with him.

' That was humiliating,' He groaned, and fixed the cover back onto where it should be. ' We failed our prank and got caught.'

Caleb reignited Ezra's lightsaber, ' I suggest we find a new target. Ahsoka, perhaps?'

' Great.'

They clambered towards the victim's quarters, which was just a couple metres away from Anakin's room. This time, Ezra was being extra careful. He looked down the vent without touching it at all.

Ahsoka was sitting at the edge of her bed, busily typing something onto her holopad. ' Must be her Fulcrum duties,' Ezra nodded at Caleb. ' Let's just jump down to scare her. She must be too absorbed in her work to see us.'

But before they could do anything, Ahsoka suddenly spoke without looking away from her work, ' Ezra, Caleb, the next time you go prank someone, please remember to mask your Force presence.'

Too shocked, they recoiled from the vent and basically crawled away with their hands.

' That was scary!' Caleb panted. ' How can she sense us?'

' I guess we really should mask our Force presences the next time,' Ezra sighed deeply. ' Who's our next target?'

' I have a good idea.'

Once Ezra heard Caleb's suggestion, his face lit up, ' Oh right! Let's do it!'

* * *

Kanan was having a fantastic day so far. Everything was perfect.

First up, he had a nice morning with the initiates. He threw up a couple training droids for them to deflect blaster bolts. Sure, there were a couple misses here and there, but they were definitely improving. Maybe he could persuade them to take Form III fighting, just like him.

Secondly, Caleb and Ezra were nowhere to be seen for the entire morning. Not that he disliked their company, but he thought he deserved a moment of peace and quiet, especially the boys liked to laugh and basically make a lot of noise.

So he made good use of his time to meditate in his quarters. He laid a pillow onto the floor, but before he could carry out his meditation, Hera walked into his room to speak with him.

' Hey there, love,' Hera smiled.

Kanan walked up to meet her.

 _Do you happen to like anyone?_ Caleb had asked him innocently at the wedding day. He couldn't help but sweat a little as he imagined what Caleb's face would be like when he realised that Kanan and Hera were a couple. Ezra's face would be extremely interesting to see as well.

He intended to keep Hera and his relationship slightly secret, because he didn't like the idea of Zeb, Sabine and Ezra teasing them at all.

' Hey there to you too,' Kanan joked. ' How's everything?'

' Dunno, but your younger counterpart and apprentice are missing for the entire morning,' She frowned. ' Have you seen them?'

' No idea,' Kanan shrugged. ' Though I have a feeling they are slacking off somewhere. Why ask?'

' I feel that they are up to no good,' Hera said truthfully.

' Nah, there's no need to worry about them for now,' Kanan grinned.

' Alright then, whatever you say, dear,' Hera rolled her eyes. ' I guess I should get going to see what Sabine is up to.' She gave Kanan a kiss before leaving the room.

Kanan shook his head with a smile and proceeded with his meditation.

* * *

But unknown to him, directly on the ceiling and above the vent cover, Ezra and Caleb were looking down at the scene in horror.

 **After some consideration, I have decided to make the silly ' Me and Star Wars' session a regular thing. Maybe once in three chapters starting with this one... :P**

 **Me and friend: *discussing about Star Wars characters* ... yeah I know... Jar Jar Binks...**

 **Classmate: What's a Jar Jar Binks?**

 **Me: Funny you'd ask.**

 **Friend: *imitiates*Mesa Jar Jar Binks!**

 **Classmate: Whatever that is, it sounds stupid.**

 **Me: HOW WUDE!**

 **Classmate: Whaat.**


	25. Chapter 25

**In which a key Force Awakens character is introduced... XD**

The journey from the vents back onto the ground floor was a blur to Caleb, because it was Ezra who led him by the arm back down.

Ezra had Caleb sit down on the floor next to the kitchen counter to process what he had just seen, and made him a large cup of tea. While he prepared to grab the cookie jar, he couldn't help but smirk a little. Of course he had always known that Kanan had some kind of feelings for Hera, but it was still a bit surprising to see their relationship in person.

Well, as for Caleb... It was simply shocking.

' There you go,' Ezra shoved the cup of tea and his favourite jar of cookies into Caleb's slightly shaking hands.

' That. Was. _Surprising_ ,' Caleb quickly grabbed a cookie from the jar, as if it would flee from his arms. ' But... I can't believe he is keeping that from me. That last time! I asked him about it. And he ignored me.'

' It wasn't _that_ surprising,' Ezra shrugged lightly. ' I have had a feeling that this would happen some day. But you do think Hera is nice too, don't you?'

' Um, maybe,' Caleb flushed. ' She's kind of pretty... But... Doesn't that mean I will break the Jedi Code in the future?'

' Technically, you didn't,' Ezra pointed out. ' Luke cancelled that part.'

' Ohhhhhhh, right,' Caleb hugged the jar closer to him. ' Okay, then, that means Older-me has joined the attachment party. What about you then? Who do you like? Sabine, perhaps?'

' Er. N-nothing!' Ezra quickly turned away from Caleb to prepare his own cup of tea. ' Stop it.'

' Admit it,' The younger boy pointed at Ezra triumphantly. ' You have a crush on Sabine!'

' Ah, so there you are,' Hera's voice nearly scared the wits out of the two boys. She was peering into the kitchen with a brilliant smile.

Caleb's face simply turned bright red like a sunset as a response, and dashed out of the room along with the beloved cookie jar.

' What's wrong with Caleb?' Hera asked Ezra, totally confused. ' Is he ill?'

' Nah, he is just... Shy,' Ezra chuckled over his steaming cup of tea. ' Ignore him.'

' Since when is Caleb shy?' Hera stared at Ezra with a baffled look.

' Oh, you won't know,' He gave her an innocent smile.

* * *

Ahsoka continued to work hard on her latest report to Commander Sato. She took a short break after the failed prank attempt, then proceeded to add the finish touches to her report, when she received an urgent call from Leia.

' Hello there, Ahsoka. I'm sorry if I am bothering you or anything,' The young girl said apologetically. ' But I must speak to you now.'

' No, you are not. I am okay, actually,' Ahsoka raised an eye marking. ' So what is it you want to talk to me about?'

' Well, I went to a health checkup, and found I am pregnant,' She said plainly.

Ahsoka had always liked children. When she was a Padawan, she often volunteered to serve at the creche outside training or mission hours. So naturally, her very first reaction would be, ' That's wonderful! Congratulations! You and Han must be overjoyed.'

' Of course, yes, I am,' She said quickly. ' But there's something else. Would you mind helping me with something?'

' Sure, sure, anything for my good friend,' Ahsoka smiled generously.

Leia asked, ' Yes... Can you help me relay this message to my brother and father?'

Ahsoka processed the information for a moment, before frowning, ' But... Why me? You should really tell that to them in person. Hang on a second, I'll go down immediately to find Luke-'

' I don't think I'm quite ready to tell them about that,' Leia blushed. ' Besides, I have a bad feeling that my father would go nuts when he hears it.'

' Oh, yeah,' Ahsoka agreed almost immediately. Seeing that Ghost-Anakin was overly protective and easily infuriated when Lux tried to speak to her, there could be no saying what he would do or how he would react when he heard the news. _Probably blow himself up_ , Ahsoka sighed inwardly.

She closed her file of work, ' Fine, I'll speak to him on your behalf. But after he calms down, I think it's best you tell him on your own, okay?'

' Okay!' Leia flashed her a brilliant smile.

' But have you thought about the names for your child yet?' Ahsoka asked curiously.

' For a bit,' Leia sighed. ' Han insisted to name the child Chewbacca if it is a boy. I'm extremely fond of the real Chewbacca, but there is no way my first child will be named Chewbacca.'

' Oh,' Ahsoka stifled a giggle. Of course Han would insist his first child to be named Chewbacca Solo.

* * *

After disconnecting her comlink, she bounded all the way down until she spotted that the three ghosts were playing some kind of card game around a tree stump.

Multicoloured player cards were scattered everywhere, and Ahsoka nearly tripped on one.

' Greetings,' Yoda waved at her cheerfully.

' Are you joining us in our game, Snips?' Ghost-Anakin grinned over the card he was holding.

' No,' Ahsoka deadpanned. ' What is that? Bingo again?'

' No, this is _Groovy Card_ , it is like the normal card game you see on Coruscant, but it has attacker points-' Ghost-Anakin explained enthusiastically.

Ahsoka stopped him, ' Please. Stop. Okay. I am coming here to tell you about something. It's about your daughter.'

' Daughter? Leia?' Ghost-Anakin accidentally flung cards into Obi-wan's face (ouch). ' What is it? Did that Han Solo hurt her? He better not dare do anything, because the carbon freezing chamber offer still stands. I'd add the Sarlaac pit offer too, just in case.'

Whoops.

' No, he hasn't done anything,' Ahsoka snapped, annoyed. ' It's just... Leia is pregnant.'

Ghost-Anakin yelled, and bashed his head against a tree.

Yoda and Obi-wan were actually amused. For once.

 **Okay, long and important announcement:**

 **I know this is a tad bit too early... Nah, it's TOO early. But I feel like I should announce this earlier. As you know, the SWR season 2 finale (aka Twilight of the Apprentice) will air on the 30th of this month, which is around 3 weeks later or something. And judging from the midseason trailer and the episode synopsis, there will be crucial bits of information in that episode, including the return of Darth Maul, the possibility of Ezra going to the Dark Side and Ahsoka vs Vader. :O**

 **I probably won't be able to watch it the same time it airs, so I'll have to wait for a couple of days before I can watch the episode. However, spoilers would literally be flying all around (especially the outcome of Ahsoka vs Vader) and I'd want to watch the episode without knowing what is going on beforehand. And yeah, spoilers spoil the excitement. I have had plenty of experiences with spoilers before. For example, I made a terrible, terrible, terrible mistake of going on youtube the day before I went to see the Force Awakens, and a spoiler just went 'smack' into my face. Yeah, you probably know which one it is. :/**

 **So as to avoid any potential spoilers, I will be going on a small break from any social media (including this site and my phone) starting from the 29th to the 5th of April. Also yeah, I'll go crazy after I see the episode. I'll probably rant so much. But I guess some of you, like me, won't be able to watch it on the same day it airs, and you guys probably won't want to see any accidental spoilers as well.**

 **When I'm back from the break (hopefully I have calmed down by then), maybe I can do some kind of episode review. XD Don't know... :P**

 **Yeah, so that's it, thanks for your understanding and sorry for any inconvenience caused! :( In the meantime, feel free to pm me and tell me how you think the finale will play out. :)**


	26. Chapter 26

Luke was swinging his lightsaber and humming light-heartedly, while strolling down to practice with his sparring techniques down at the vacant lot. He was hoping to perfect his skills on Form V, and hopefully he could get either of his Fathers (preferably Anakin, seeing that his mind was far more normal and he wouldn't really rant about sand). Or even Ahsoka, who was the most normal, mature and sensible of them all.

However, his anticipation for lightsaber training vanished immediately once he got down to the area, as in front of him, was one of the most peculiar scenes he had ever seen.

His father, Ghost-Anakin, was repeatedly bashing his head against a tree, but it failed and he just fell through the poor tree. He got up at once and started to wail in a high-pitched voice with his face in the grass.

Obi-wan and Yoda were present as well, but they didn't seem worried at all. Instead, Obi-wan started pouring tea for both of them and Yoda just whacked his gimer stick around.

Ahsoka was standing a couple metres away from Ghost-Anakin (who was now yelling at the sky, or birds, who bothered to listen to him), crossing her arms with a thoroughly annoyed and exasperated look on her face.

Luke was shocked, and after a second of contemplation, he decided that Ahsoka would be the person with the clearest state of mind right now, and walked over to her to ask for an explanation.

' Good thing you are here, Luke,' She sighed deeply. ' Just go over to your father and grab him off the grass.'

' B-but,' Luke glanced worriedly at his father. ' What is going on? Why is he acting so crazy?'

' Argh, he just heard the message from your sister,' Ahsoka rubbed her temples. ' How to put it? It's just he went nuts after hearing that your sister was pregnant.'

' Pregnant? Really?' Luke was nearly exploding with happiness. ' Oh, that's wonderful! How lovely. But, er, shouldn't Father be extremely happy instead of running around like a mad man?'

Ghost-Anakin's sudden shriek answered Luke's question, ' I'M GONNAAAAAAAA BE A GRANDFATHER!'

' Ah,' Luke said. ' He's currently going through the I'm-too-nervous-because-I'm-going-to-be-a-grandfather phase.'

' Indeed,' Obi-wan yelled over the noise. ' Now, get him to shut up! Shut up, man! Quit your screaming and sit down, so we can continue our game!'

' I CAN'T!'

Luke turned to speak to Ahsoka, ' Well, why didn't Leia tell me herself?'

' She foresaw that this madness would happen,' Ahsoka nodded to Ghost-Anakin's direction. ' Didn't want to have him blowing up in her face. Secondly, she's still kind of shy about it.'

' I see,' Luke said with understanding. ' I'll comlink her later anyways. So, did she tell you about the names? Did Han come up with any names yet?'

' Oh yes,' Ahsoka stifled a giggle. ' He insists to name the child _Chewbacca Solo._ Leia refused.'

Luke bursted out laughing on the spot, ' Chewbacca Solo? Really? Aww, but that was a good one. The real Chewbacca would be really pleased. I guess Han could always bargain, maybe he can make Chewbacca the middle name of the child.'

Both of them continued to laugh and talk about the possibilities of the names of Leia's child, while Obi-wan tried to pacify Ghost-Anakin by sloshing tea at him. Of course, that didn't work at all.

Finally, Ghost-Anakin got tired of jumping around, and he dropped down to the ground, panting.

' Have you finished your crazy talk?' Obi-wan deadpanned.

' No, but I'm too tired,' Ghost-Anakin answered. ' That's quite enough for today. But meanwhile, I want to share my happiness to everyone.'

 _Oh no,_ Ahsoka and Luke groaned.

* * *

True to his words, Ghost-Anakin talked a lot at lunch, which greatly embarrassed his younger self.

Though he was being exceptionally annoying, everyone silently agreed that they preferred hearing him talk about his excitement of being a grandfather instead of sand. Like, sand, sand and sand.

While he ranted nonstop about baby care, Kanan couldn't help but notice that his younger self was being exceptionally quiet. Usually, he would barge into Ghost-Anakin's rantings with questions, and Ghost-Anakin would be more than happy to answer them. But today, he just munched on his food quietly and kept to himself. Most disturbing of all, Ezra was shooting knowing glances at Caleb.

' And now, I'm just too excited!' Ghost-Anakin finished with a loud squeal.

' Calm down, man,' Anakin said, his face burning with mortification.

' No, I can't! I'm gonna be a grandfather!' Ghost-Anakin announced. ' I'm gonna be the best grandfather in this entire galaxy! I'm, er, gonna love this kid so much! I'm gonna be so awesome that that kid's gonna idolise me!'

' Are you sure you want your granddaughter or grandson to idolise you?' Luke laughed weakly.

' That's your niece or nephew you are talking about,' Ghost-Anakin pointed out.

' Yes, I know! But... Are you really sure you want your grandchild to idolise you? As in... For example, keep your old helmet as a memento in his room?'

' I seriously won't mind if he or she really does that,' He rolled his eyes. ' Besides, there is no way he can get my helmet. It's so burnt up.'

' But-'

' That's it, I'm too excited, I'm must get going! I must announce this to the trees and the plants!' Ghost-Anakin said and just flew out of the room.

* * *

Right after lunch, Luke contacted Leia using Ahsoka's comlink, so Leia was very surprised to see Luke instead of Ahsoka.

' Hey, brother,' Leia said in surprise. ' It's you!'

' Yes,' Luke sniggered. ' Word got to my ears that you are pregnant, right?'

' Indeed,' Leia smirked.

' Is it a boy or a girl then?'

' Don't know,' Leia shrugged. ' Doesn't really matter to me, because I'll love the child either way.'

' Have you guys decided on the names yet? Is it Chewbacca Solo?' Luke winked. ' I personally like this name.'

Leia sighed, ' We have reached a compromise and yes, we have decided on the names. If the child is a girl, we'll name her Padme Breha Solo, after my adoptive mother and the mother I never knew. If the child is a boy... We'll name him Ben Chewbacca Anakin Solo.'

' Interesting choice! Why so?'

' Well, Ben was the reason Han and I met after all,' Leia explained. ' So we're gonna name him after Ben. And yes, I agreed to make Chewbacca his middle name. Also, I have a feeling that my father would get extremely jealous if he knows that I named my son after Obi-wan, so I placed his name in there too.'

' Right,' Luke nodded, recalling the scene where his father ran around the bush screaming at himself. ' Oh, by the way, Father has gone mad. He is very happy.'

' Oh, that's fortunate,' Leia breathed, relieved. ' I was thinking that he would go nuts, seeing that he was totally mad at Lux for trying to speak to Ahsoka...'

' He's pretty biased,' Luke pointed out.

' I see...' Leia giggled.

They talked for some more and Luke disconnected the comlink. He sat on the edge of his bed, thinking about what life would be in the future.

Little Padme Solo or Ben Solo.

 **Haha I knew there was a bit of foreshadowing with the 'helmet' part... XD**

 **And... Imagine my delight and surprise when I turned on the TV to find that my local TV channel is finally airing Clone Wars The Lost Missions... :D Ah, the wonderful memories...**

 **Two more weeks until Twilight of the Apprentice! :O I can't wait! This is so exciting! XDDDD Words can't describe my anticipation and apprehension. Theories are literally flying around at my face.**


	27. Chapter 27

Kanan noticed that Caleb was acting weird for the rest of the day.

First up, he saw him lurking like a ghost around the hangar with his cookie jar (what's with him and his cookie jar anyways, Master Billaba should scold him for his attachment on cookies). Secondly, whenever he approached his younger counterpart, Caleb would just stare at him weirdly, then deliberately make a excuse and walk away.

Little Caleb's strange behaviour was starting to irritate Kanan, so he just ran over to speak to Ezra, since both of them seemed like good friends and he expected Ezra to know what was going on with Caleb.

Ezra was tinkering with some scrap metal at the corner of the store room, and the great amount of noises he was making prevented him from hearing Kanan enter. On the other side of the room, Ahsoka was busy rummaging for something in a large wooden crate.

Ezra jumped in fright when he spotted Kanan next to him.

' Wow, you gave me a fright,' Ezra placed a hand over his heart. He had just been talking to Ahsoka about what he had discovered with Caleb, and Ahsoka was most amused, but then, she said truthfully that she had been expecting that for quite some while. Fortunately, they had already dropped the topic when Kanan came in.

' Well, you were making a lot of noise, so you probably didn't hear me,' Kanan started to play around with some bit of metal lying on the workbench. ' Not my fault.'

' Fine,' Ezra rolled his eyes and snatched the piece of metal from Kanan. ' So what's up? Aren't you supposed to be having lightsaber classes with Group C?' Apparently, Luke started to divide the initiates into different groups. This system was inspired by the initiate clans from the old Order, because Ahsoka was talking to him about her days in Clawmouse Clan.

' Nah, Anakin took the class today. He wanted the kids to perfect Form V fighting, I'm perfectly fine with it,' Kanan explained, watching Ezra hammer the bits of metal together. ' What are you making?'

' I'm trying to make some training lightsabers,' He gestured to the pile of blue and green kyber crystals to his right. ' We are getting more and more initiates, so we should probably plan ahead. You know what, we should go to Ilum someday to harvest more crystals, or else we'd run out of crystals. Maybe we can borrow some synth-crystals, but I doubt if anyone would like red. Look, Ahsoka and Luke drew me some designs.' He reached behind him to pull out a whole stack of sketches.

' Woah,' Kanan flipped through the sketches. ' You are really good at this.' Ahsoka and Luke came up with complex designs and they even jotted down a lot of notes in the margins.

' Those were just rough sketches,' Ahsoka waved off. ' Ezra requested for them, so I helped.' She too, was extremely efficient with her lightsaber building, seeing that her fingers worked fast over a handle.

Kanan raised an eyebrow at Ezra's newfound diligence,' Good job. Anyways, aren't you supposed to be teaching the Group A's Force-ability class now?'

' Caleb volunteered to take the class,' Ezra slid a blue crystal into one of his model lightsabers with well-practiced ease (he constantly broke his lightsaber over the years, many thanks to Darth Vader). ' So I let him.'

' Speaking of Caleb,' Kanan said seriously. ' He has been acting strangely today. So-'

' Pass me a kyber crystal, will you? Thanks,' Ahsoka interrupted Kanan's speech. Ezra grabbed a green kyber crystal off the table and handed it carefully to her, not wanting it to break.

' And I want to ask you, do you know why Caleb has been acting strange today?' Kanan crossed his arms.

' Why?' Ezra turned to grab a piece of metal from a box, so that he wasn't facing Kanan. ' Really?' He was trying hard not to laugh so he tried for an innocent tone.

' Come on,' Kanan crossed his arms, impatient. ' You were with him this entire morning. Surely you would know.'

' I don't,' Ezra tried for a poker-face and waved a wrench at Kanan's face.

' Then where were you two this morning?' Kanan said suspiciously.

' We... Are on a mission!'

' Mission?'

' Uh, yeah... To... Rescue Caleb's cookie jar from a squad of ants,' Ezra invented wildly.

' Seriously? That kept you two busy this entire morning?'

' Yep,' Ezra deadpanned.

Unfortunately, the Obi-wan style deadpan look didn't really work. ' You _will_ tell me what you know,' Kanan said firmly.

' Quit using mind-tricks on me,' Ezra groaned and decided the best way to keep Caleb and his secret is to shoo Kanan away, since he was having problems with keeping his poker-face. ' It doesn't work anymore ever since the time you mind-tricked me to tap-dance.'

' Ahsoka, do you know?' Kanan turned to ask Ahsoka, and Ahsoka jolted in surprise. She didn't expect that she would be addressed.

Ezra eyed Ahsoka fearfully, trying to warn her with his horrified look. Fortunately, Ahsoka was smart enough to understand Ezra's meaning.

' No, I don't,' She ignited her finished training lightsaber and waved it around. She had on the best poker-face. Ezra made a note in his head to ask her how to make one of those later, probably after Kanan left.

' Now, get out of the room,' Ezra said exasperatedly. ' We are working. Go and chat with Hera.'

' How could you shoo me out? Respect your elders!' Kanan said, shocked. ' Don't get snippy with me.'

' You are starting to sound like Mister Anakin,' Ezra rolled his eyes (Ahsoka giggled). ' It doesn't work. Besides, the right to be snippy goes to Ahsoka. Now go away.' Ahsoka looked up from the work with an apologetic smile.

Kanan growled, leaving Ezra to work with his training lightsabers in the storeroom in peace.

Ahsoka and Ezra worked in complete silence, swiftly finishing off another batch of training lightsabers. When they decided to save some crystals for another batch, they started packing up the metal and tools, and began stuffing the finished lightsabers into a sack for Luke to inspect.

Just when they were about to leave, Luke rushed into the room, looking rather excited.

' I just received another call from Leia,' He grinned. ' She told me that she asked Mon Mothma about those Jedi equipment.'

' And...?' Ahsoka pressed on.

' Mon Mothma said she only knew a little about those stuff, but she did know that Leia's adoptive father was involved. Ah, and also another person was involved too. It was a bounty hunter,' Luke explained quickly.

' Bounty hunter?' Ahsoka frowned. ' Who?'

' Her name is Asajj Ventress,' Luke said, and Ahsoka gasped.

 **Okay, before some of you throw cookies in my face, yes, I haven't read the Dark Disciple yet but I know what happened to Ventress. Since she is one of my favourite characters in Clone Wars... I'm going change some stuff... :P Anyways... Here is the 'Me and Star Wars' section:**

 **Teacher: *upon talking about 3D shapes* Today, we will be talking about pyramids. What are examples of pyramids?**

 **Student 1: Pyramids in egypt!**

 **Student 2: Separate Toblerone chocolates!**

 **Student 3: The Louvre!**

 **Teacher: Good, good, what else?**

 **Me: The-**

 **Friend: Oh no. No no no... Don't you-**

 **Me: Sith Holocron.**

 **Teacher: Uh. What else?**

 **Me: SIIITH HOLOCRONNNNNN!**

 **Teacher: *sighs* Okay... Now... We will move on to cubes. What are examples of cubes?**

 **Friend: Now, don't you dare-**

 **Me: Jedi Holocron.**

 **Friend: *face-palms***


	28. Chapter 28

' Wait, you know who that woman is?' Luke clutched at the comlink excitedly.

' Of course,' Ahsoka answered, still recovering from the surprise. ' Asajj Ventress used to be a Separatist assassin back in the Clone Wars, and she was the Sith apprentice of Count Dooku. We didn't know he was a Sith back then. Later on, Dooku wanted to kill her, so she just escaped to become a bounty hunter instead. I crossed paths with her once during the Temple bombings, and surprisingly, she assisted my escape. But I never saw her since.'

Ezra scratched the back of his head, ' Wait... So do you ever know what happened to her?'

' There were rumours that she got recruited by the Order to infiltrate the Separatists or something,' Ahsoka recalled. ' Heard she got paired up with Master Quinlan Vos... Then they said she got killed by Dooku with Sith lightning in the end.'

Luke winced, ' Ouch.' He remembered his traumatic experience of being electrocuted by Sith lightning all too well. It was excruciatingly painful and particularly dreadful, since the Emperor was cackling like mad when he tried to kill him. To be honest, when he compared electrocution by Sith lightning and getting killed with a lightsaber, the latter sounded a lot better.

' But the problem is,' Ezra said, confused. ' How the Sith did she get involved with those Jedi equipments if she was dead before Clone Wars ended? This doesn't make sense.'

' Indeed, that was what I thought,' Ahsoka frowned deeply. ' Perhaps... Her death was just a ruse... I knew Ventress was too smart to get killed just like that. But how...'

' To answer your question,' Obi-wan appeared just behind them (they jumped). ' Ventress's death was faked.'

' WHAT?' Luke, Ezra and Ahsoka gasped all at once.

' Yes yes yes, why, I heard you people talking about her. Gather around, and let this old man sit down before he continues his tale.' Obi-wan sat down on a chair. ' Well, it is true her death was faked. Master Vos and I both knew that Sidious and Tyranus were after her blood. To fully stop them from going after her, we must make them believe that Ventress was dead. So, we made one big ruse, with some persuasions here and there using the Force, and one stupid fake report to the Council, we managed to convince them all.'

' Woah, wait. You actually made a fake report?' Ahsoka held up a hand, unable to believe that the rule-abiding Master Kenobi would actually make fake reports for the Council. ' You _actually_ broke some rules? Like real rules? Are you pulling my leg or something?'

' What's wrong with that?' Obi-wan said, annoyed. ' You are starting to talk like Anakin, young lady. Be careful of that, before you fully form into a massive grinch like him.' Luke had a feeling his father would rage when he heard that, but decided not to mention.

' On with the story,' Obi-wan continued. ' We dropped her off the lower levels of Coruscant, gave her a large handful of credits, an astromech and a ship, in case she needed a speedy escape off the planet. The only thing I know about her, is that she continued to be a bounty hunter under the alias of Redblade. Like, after her red lightsabers. Smart name, isn't it?'

' Redblade,' Ezra muttered. ' That sounds familiar... isn't that the name of one of the best bounty hunters out there? Not counting Boba Fett or Cad Bane. Hondo mentioned her to me once or twice.'

' Indeed,' Ahsoka noted, remembering that she came across the name for many times in meetings. ' Commander Sato once said Redblade is a bounty hunter with no love for the Empire. She occasionally captures Imperial officers for us and collects bounty. Are you telling me that she is Ventress?'

' Yes,' Obi-wan nodded.

' What? You could have told us earlier, Ben!' Luke whined. ' You could have spared us some time by saying to us that she was the one who got those Jedi equipments.'

' Oh, no,' Obi-wan shook his head vigorously. ' I never knew she did that! I only knew from you guys' conversations earlier. But I did secretly share her contact with Bail Organa before we split paths, thinking that perhaps she could come into use in the future, like protection from Vader or something. However, I never knew he would contact her to do something _that_ bold.'

' Alas,' Ezra sighed. ' We only know that this lady is involved with the 'sacking' of the Temple. We don't really know how things happened. I guess we will only know from Redblade herself, seeing that er, Leia's adoptive father is dead. I think it's almost dinner, right?'

Luke answered, ' Uh, yes.'

' Then that's my cue to leave,' Obi-wan winked. ' I had better go back to find Master Yoda on Dagobah. He has a dinner party.'

As they turned to leave for dinner, a train of thoughts started to go through Luke's mind...

* * *

' WOAH,' Caleb nearly spat out his mouthful of pie. ' ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT VENTRESS? AS IN, THE REAL ASAJJ VENTRESS?'

' Yes,' Ezra smiled thinly. ' _The_ Asajj Ventress.' He noted that his young friend had recovered (half) from his shock, and was quite ready to revert to his very inquisitive self.

' But I heard she died in the middle of a mission,' Kanan frowned. ' Some kind of infiltration plot.'

' No she didn't,' Ahsoka confirmed. ' It was a fake death, cleverly planned by Master Kenobi and Master Vos.'

' WHAT?' Ghost-Anakin yelled in shock. ' You mean the Old Man actually lied to the Council? As in... Breaking the rules?'

' Yes,' Ezra laughed, remembering what Obi-wan said to Ahsoka.

Ghost-Anakin widened his eyes, ' You sure? Like _real_ rules?'

' That is not the point!' Caleb looked so excited that he was about to explode. ' She's so cool! Heard a lot about her over the holonews. She would have been a pretty nice heroine if she weren't a Separatist. Awesome Form II duelist. Though Master Unduli didn't quite agree...'

' So is she working as Redblade-'

Caleb barged right into Kanan's sentence, ' She's a bounty hunter now? So cool! Do you think she still used her lightsabers? Or standard blasters? Oh, do you think she knows Cad Bane? Like, it is so cool-'

' As I was saying,' Kanan interrupted (slightly angrily). ' Does anyone know where she is now?'

' No idea,' Ezra replied. ' Hondo said she moves from one city to another, in case the Empire catches her. And she jumps from one system to another, to avoid suspicion.'

Luke, who was quiet for most of the time, spoke up, ' I'd like to find her.'

' What, find Ventress?' Ahsoka asked.

' Dunno, I'm just thinking that if we could find her, maybe we can convince her to help us,' Luke said. ' It appears that we have Form I, III, IV and V lightsaber instructors amongst us, but we don't really have someone who actually uses Form II. Caleb, you said she is a Form II duelist, right? Maybe... We can convince her to be a Form II instructor.'

' That's quite hard,' Anakin said. ' She's a stubborn one, and is hard to convince.'

' But we should give it a try, no matter what,' Ahsoka nodded. ' I support this suggestion.' One by one, the others started to mumble their support for this proposal.

' Right then,' Luke turned to Ahsoka. ' Can you ask your friend, um, Anna for help?'

' Sure,' Ahsoka said. ' Right away. I nearly forgot about them! Anna is extremely efficient with her work. Though I think one of us should accompany the search team to find Ventress, since, yeah, she could be quite _aggressive_ if someone upsets her.'

' I can go,' Ezra said excitedly. ' I've been wanting to go on a solo mission for a loooooooooong time.'

Before Kanan could protest, Luke smiled, ' Sure. Go ahead.'

' Luke, are you sure you wanna-'

' Just give Ezra a try,' Luke insisted, before Ezra could give his Master an evil glare.

' Fine,' Kanan sat back in his chair as a sign of defeat. ' Let's see how everything plays out.'

 **About one week left and the Season finale is out :O I'm so excited! XDDDDD**


	29. Chapter 29

Luke borrowed Ahsoka's comlink to talk to Anna and her search team. After a couple exchanges, she was more than happy to assist Ezra's mission (her team was starting to get bored, since they got nothing to do), and declared excitedly that they would arrive on Yavin 4 in the afternoon.

In order to make up for his absence, Ezra organised an outdoor activity for all the initiates with the help of Ahsoka. He made them work in pairs while Ahsoka threw training droids in the air randomly, so that the initiates would have to rely on their instincts to sense where the training droids were. And to make the task as hard as possible, Ezra passed on blindfolds.

So their activity commenced, and the initiates started blundering around with their training lightsabers. Fortunately, Ahsoka had tuned down the lightsabers to the weakest power before handing them out, or else they would be injuring each other. The worst the training lighstabers could do to them would be light irritations (tingling) whenever struck on their flesh.

' Oww!' Nivaa, a Togruta boy hissed when his partner, Gloria accidentally struck him on the leg with her lightsaber, but while he blundered around, he deflected a bolt from a training droid Ahsoka tossed at his direction.

It seemed like Lora and Jacie were the most successful of all, seeing that they had three training droids after them and managed to deflect most of the bolts. Ezra noted that Lora favoured Form III fighting while Jacie used Form IV.

Kira and Gregg got paired up together, and their fighting styles were shockingly similar. They used Form V fighting style, however favoured the reverse Shien grip (much to Anakin's annoyance), thanks to Ahsoka.

A massive explosion caught everyone's attention, that most people pulled off their blindfolds to see what happened. It turned out Jeremi accidentally deflected a bolt onto one training droid, causing the poor thing to explode into sparks, the remaining burnt bits raining down on Kira.

They roared out in laughter while Jeremi scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed grin. ' It's okay,' Ahsoka assured him from the top of the tree. ' I used to do that all the time back then. No worries. I'll set up another one. Back to the activity! Blindfolds on!' Ezra used the Force to sweep the broken, burning bits away.

* * *

Unknown to Ezra and Ahsoka, Anakin and Kanan were sitting on a log, a few good metres away from where the initiates were enjoying their time, overviewing the entire activity and their former apprentices.

There was awkward silence between the two masters, seeing that Kanan wasn't that familiar with the younger Anakin. The man mostly kept to himself and rarely spoke, and only allowed his older, ghostly (and more annoying) self to ramble on. He didn't blame him, as it was kind of hard for him to accept this terribly messed up future.

' Time flies, doesn't it?' Anakin said, while watching Ahsoka happily laughing and tossing training droids on top of a tree.

' Huh?' Kanan made a questioning sound, not understanding what the man meant.

Anakin continued, ' Ahsoka has grown so much... I can't believe it has been so many years since that snippy little kid walked off that ramp and into my life on Christophsis. Time flies, and she's now an adult. I'm quite sure you feel the same way with Ezra.'

Kanan looked at Ezra (who, by the way, was instructing Gloria on her lightsaber grip), and silently agreed. It seemed like it was just yesterday when that little boy appeared in his life, triumphantly escaping on the stolen speeder. Now, he was all grown-up and ready to have his first, official solo mission as a Jedi Knight.

' Yeah,' Kanan continued look ahead of him. ' I know Ezra's grown up, but I don't know if he can handle this mission alone.'

' Why not?' Anakin raised an eyebrow. ' I think Ezra is a pretty good warrior and he can handle almost anything, maybe even Ventress, who probably will have a bad mood.'

' But he doesn't have much experience, this mission is too dangerous for him,' Kanan insisted. ' Maybe Luke should give the mission to Ahsoka instead. She definitely has more experience of dealing with Ventress than Ezra.'

' Then you should let him get some,' Anakin pointed out. ' I, like you, used to think that Ahsoka was too inexperienced to face any dangerous missions. I ended up choosing what missions she got to get on and which ones she couldn't.'

Kanan remarked, ' Well, then I bet she wasn't pleased.'

' Yes, she was annoyed. One time when we had a mission to rescue a Jedi Master on Lola Sayu, I tried to make her stay off it, but in the end, she crept aboard our shuttle without anyone knowing,' He shrugged. ' I was so angry that she ignored my orders. I was just trying to make her safe and sound in the Temple! But then, I realised that I should trust her. And this point became even more obvious when she got kidnapped by a bunch of Trandoshans and she managed to survive on her own,' He shrugged. ' So I guess you should trust Ezra's abilities. He can do it.'

Kanan let out a sigh, ' But I am just worried about him.'

' Trust him,' Anakin repeated stubbornly.

' Fine, if you say so,' Kanan mumbled.

' You should be proud of Ezra,' Anakin smiled, his voice almost wistful. ' You trained him to Knighthood. I never got to properly train Ahsoka to Knighthood.'

' Well, Ahsoka is now a Master, you should be very proud too,' Kanan pointed out truthfully. ' You did take part in that and contributed to her success.'

Anakin said, slightly bitterly, ' Well yes, I am proud. But not exactly... She achieved that rank on her own, while my other self wrecked havoc in the galaxy. To be honest, I'd give everything to train Ahsoka to Knighthood and properly Knighted by Master Yoda. Shame this would never happen. Definitely not in this timeline.'

Kanan tried to add a little bit of optimism in his words, ' Well, you still have a shot in your original timeline when you go back!'

' Nah,' Anakin shook his head. ' No chance.'

' Er... Speaking of that, it's about time you are returning, right?'

' Yes,' Anakin answered. ' It's almost time. In about a week's time.'

' Well, we'll miss you. And I hate to say it, but I may miss Younger-me too,' Kanan shrugged. ' I should get over to warn Ezra about the time. Anna and her crew should be arriving any moment.'

Anakin watched Kanan's retreating back with a small smile.

* * *

Anna's shuttle dropped down to the floor, and she walked down the ramp to welcome Ezra aboard. As usual, she was wearing excessive trinkets around her neck.

' Welcome, welcome, Ezra Bridger!' Anna chirped excitedly, ushering Ezra on board. ' Welcome to our team! We have already set our trackers to scan the systems for Redblade, so don't you worry about not finding her!'

Ezra's head was nearly spinning with names, as the entire crew bent forward to shake hands with him and offering names. They were _a little_ more enthusiastic and hospitable than he had expected.

' Please take care of Ezra,' Kanan told Anna anxiously. ' And make sure he doesn't do anything rash or runs off.'

' I'll try our best,' Anna replied confidently. ' But please don't worry, we'll be back in no time. Anyways, we gotta get going, and do help me say hi to Ahsoka!'

Kanan tried to swallow down his worry, as he watched Ezra along with the shuttle take off into the sky. But then, Anakin's words came back to him.

 _Trust him._

Oh well. Maybe he should give it a try.

 **One week left till the season finale :OOOOO I can't wait!**

 **And I forgot to mention that last time... The video 'Ahsoka Tano and Darth Vader: The Rise and Fall of a Friendship' was a real tearjerker... :'(**

 **Now... I shall excuse myself and go drown myself in tears while rewatching some Clone Wars episodes...**


	30. Chapter 30

Anakin's throat was starting to go sore after a Force-ability lesson (he was just taking Ezra's class as a substitution teacher), and so he went to the kitchen to get himself a nice mug of warm water.

He was too busy grabbing a clean mug from the cupboard to notice Caleb sitting at the corner (huddling his empty cookie jar), so after he poured himself some of water, he jumped when he saw the young boy.

' Master Skywalker,' Caleb nodded politely.

' Hey there too, little Caleb,' Anakin plopped down to sit next to the boy. ' What's with the cookie jar...?' He could understand Obi-wan's obsession with tea, but he could never understand the boy's strange obsession with cookies.

' I want more cookies,' He said forlornly.

' You could always get more when we get back to our timeline,' Anakin pointed out. ' It's not that cookies will go extinct. There's this wonderful bakery right next to Dex's Diner that has the best cookies. Chocolate chip, double chocolate, peanut butter, jam, a lot more. Ahsoka, Obi-wan and I used to buy a huge load from them after missions, as a treat.'

' Really?' The boy said in awe. ' Great, I just need to beg Master Billaba to bring me there. One needs to have a break from ration bars, you know. My taste buds just aren't quite the same since I tasted those chocolate flavoured ration bars. They taste even worse than the original flavoured ones.'

' The mujaberry ones tasted the _worst,'_ Anakin provided with a grimace.

' Really? I thought the caff ones tasted the worst.'

' Nah. The mujaberry ones are worst. Definitely the worst. Even Master Windu puked just after a small nibble,' Anakin shook his head with a small smile.

' Really? Master Windu pukes?' Caleb widened his eyes in awe. ' I didn't know that.'

' No one likes the ration bars, young one, not even Master Windu,' Anakin chuckled. ' But we have to swallow them up, because of the war. We can't expect fine quality food all the time, can we?'

' Then we have to stop this war immediately, so I can have my cookies soon,' Caleb said with a determined grin. ' And to prevent our world from being controlled by that _Palpy_.'

Anakin winced at Caleb's words. He had been trying to escape from this, but running away from the reality that the burden of saving the world was lying on his and, er, Caleb's shoulders didn't help much. They would have to take action to stop Palpatine once the Son sent them back, or else this long trip would be meaningless.

' So,' Caleb reached for a glass of muja juice next to him. ' Seeing that you are the Chosen One, do you have any plans on how to vanquish that ultimately evil dark lord?'

' Um,' Anakin gulped, taken back.

' Surely you don't want to be confined to that stupid suit,' Caleb wiggled his eyebrows dramatically. ' Or you don't want to be a sand-hating person.'

' Urgh,' Anakin replied, disgusted at the thought. ' I always hate sand.'

' Well, it doesn't matter,' Caleb said at last. ' But I do have some ideas. Maybe we could drown Palpy in a bacta tank. I guess I could smuggle one bacta tank from Master Rig Nema when she isn't looking... Though I can't let the medical droids see me, I have a feeling they hate me ever since the time I tripped over their equipment-'

' He is a Sith Lord,' Anakin deadpanned. ' There is no way a Sith Lord can be so easily killed by a simple bacta tank. He could just blast his way out with Sith lightning.'

' Or put womp rats under his chair... I heard there is this dealer in the lower levels of Coruscant who sells exotic beasts from Tatooine. Maybe we can even buy a rancor from him, heard it only costs a few credits- '

' No. Absolutely not,' Anakin said in horror.

Caleb's face reddened, ' Let's try the quickest and cleanest way. Just charge into his office with our lightsabers.'

' That's possible,' Anakin clicked his fingers. ' But we can't just run into his office like what Master Windu did and kill him on the spot. The Senate wouldn't accept this. They would just accuse us of treachery to the Republic or maybe taking over the world. Or if we failed to kill Palpatine, he could just Order 66 us.'

' Yeah... Right...' Caleb groaned. ' It's harder than I thought.'

' Defeating Sidious is a really hard task,' Anakin warned. ' It makes fighting Grievous, Ventress and Dooku all at once seem like a funfair game.'

' Surely we can tell the Council about this,' Caleb said earnestly. ' Master Yoda can help us.'

' I don't think this is a good plan either,' Anakin sighed. ' It will only make Palpatine more suspicious if more people know. It could bring up serious complications.'

' Maybe we can tell the Master Kenobi from our timeline-'

' Who will then tell the Council,' Anakin finished with an apologetic look. ' I'm sorry.'

' Well, the womp rat offer still stands. I'm perfectly willing to spend all of my pocket money to buy one, if this can save the world-'

' No. Please.'

' Argh,' Caleb gasped in exasperation. ' What can we do?'

' Dunno,' Anakin stretched his legs. ' But let's hope we can think of a successful plan when we get back. Let's toast for our success.' Caleb gingerly raised his glass of juice as a response.

* * *

' Intelligence tells us that Redblade is on Coruscant,' Anna put down the holopad she was reading.

' What? The Imperial City?' Ezra's jaw fell open. He had only been to the Imperial City once, but it was just an in-and-out mission, as the place was too dangerous. Running into it would be suicide for the crew. Seriously, the city was crawling with Stormtroopers, and Ezra suspected that he couldn't make it past a metre without bumping into a hundred of them.

' Yes, the Imperial City,' Anna carefully set the coordinates of Coruscant and they jumped into hyperspace.

' But... Why Coruscant out of all places?' Ezra frowned. ' Is there even bounty in that place?'

' Of course! A lot!' Anna grinned. ' Though the Empire is in bits, there are still quite a lot of Imperial officers running away from us or trying to hide. We still hire bounty hunters to capture the remaining for us.'

' Woah, really?'

' Yes, last I checked,' Anna tilted her head. ' We offer five thousand to ten thousand credits for one Imperial officer, regardless of the rank. I guess they would be willing to offer a million for someone like Tarkin.'

' What do they do with the, er, captured officers?' Ezra gulped. ' Imprison them forever?'

' No we don't,' Anna answered. ' They simply have them live in a massive building under constant monitoring, and we don't exactly treat them like slaves or prisoners. Life is quite easy for them, with free food, free bed, and basically everything else they want. If the Generals think they are suitable, they let them work in their ranks.'

Ezra goggled, ' They let Imperials work?'

' Yeah, I heard that they allowed a whole bunch of Imperial technicians to work in the X-fighter repair department. Those guys are extremely pleased,' She sat back into her chair. ' Now... I think we are about to drop out of hyperspace. Get ready!'

 **Aaahhh! I'm too excited for the season finale! Words can't simply describe my feelings! Hang on a sec...**

 **ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHASDFGHJKL!**

 ***cough* *cue the apologies* Sorry, it's just... I'M TOO EXCITED RIGHT NOW!**

 **And no, I haven't forgotten... Here is a 'Me and Star Wars':**

 **(My friends are holding a song dedication party during the holidays)**

 ***Sam Smith music blasting in the background***

 **Friend: Yay I dedicated this Sam Smith song to all of you.**

 **Classmates: Aww!**

 **Another friend who is in charge of the booth (which is actually just a phone): Hey, more dedications are accepted! Come to dedicate some songs to your friends!**

 **Me: Oh, hang on, I got this really nice thing to dedicate to you all. To all my wonderful friends.**

 **Classmates: Aww!**

 **Me: *types in soundtrack* hang on...**

 ***Cue the Darth Vader breathing soundtrack***

 **Classmate 1: *freaks out***

 **Classmate 2: *falls down from a chair***

 **Classmate 3: *shivers* Ohhhh, what is that?**

 **Me: Behold, the Darth Vader breathing.**

 **Friend: STOP. PLEASE.**


	31. Chapter 31

**As I have said, this will be the last chapter before my 'small vacation'. :D Hopefully, I'll be back by (around) the 5th. So stay tuned! :)**

 **Here is a slightly longer chapter... In which Ventress is found on Coruscant by Ezra... Enjoy :D**

Ventress was crouching low from the top of a building, trying to sense for the Imperial she was trying to catch. The dark wasn't helping her job at all, and she really needed the money, so she was trying to rely on her instincts and the Force.

This particular Imperial was terribly hard to catch. He was one of the higher ranked Generals in the navy, that the Rebel Alliance literally offered fifteen thousand credits for his capture. The task proved to be hard, as she chased him off from the Outer Rim back onto Coruscant for nearly a month. But now, she would have her victory. She had him cornered in the alleys.

In her head, she was going over her usual bounty hunting steps. _Jump down, catch the Imperial, send him off to the nearest Alliance outpost, collect the bounty and call it a day._ Simple as that. As an afterthought, she could buy herself a hot dinner with the money, preferably at Dex's Diner.

Sensing the Imperial, she quickly clicked the visor of her helmet shut and dropped down from the building as she would usually do. Once her foot touched the ground of the damp alley, she broke into a sprint to corner her victim, but-

Someone else was in her way.

She skidded to a halt in surprise, and ignited one of her lightsabers, preparing to fend off whatever assailant (possibly another of Vader's obnoxious Inquisitors, she had had enough of them) that was blocking her path.

' Woah,' A voice shrieked.

Then, a source of blue light flared up in Ventress's face, almost blinding her. She snarled, and held up her red blade as a light source to check out whoever dared to cross her.

It was a boy, probably in his early twenties, holding a strangely designed blue lightsaber. He wore a slightly terrified face and looked as if he was about to flee away from her in any second. But this wasn't an Imperial Inquisitor or Dark side user. Well. This was new.

' A Jedi,' Ventress said grimly. ' What is a Jedi doing here in the Imperial City?' She hadn't seen a blue coloured lightsaber for a long, long time and the colour was almost a bit foreign in her eyes.

' My name is Ezra Bridger, Jedi Knight of the new Order,' The boy said, his voice slightly shrill. ' Er, I come in peace.'

Ventress snorted behind her helmet. The speech sounded pretty lame in her ears. ' Where do you come from, young Jedi?' She said. ' I am quite sure your kind isn't welcome in the Imperial City.'

' Er, I belong to the Rebel Alliance, or more specifically, the Lothal Rebels. And I actually came here to find you,' He bit his lip. ' Under Master Luke Skywalker's request.'

' Skywalker who?' Ventress frowned. ' Anakin Skywalker?'

Ezra put a hand over his heart in shock, ' You don't know who Luke Skywalker is? As in, the hero who destroyed the Death Star-'

' I don't know much about Rebel or the Empire business,' Ventress said snappishly. ' All I do is hunt for them. Now, quit stammering or I might just go Dark Side and kill you for making me lose my prized target. I have been going after him for nearly a month.'

' Okay, okay. Master Luke Skywalker is the Grandmaster of the new Jedi Order,' Ezra started to explain, his legs slightly quivering at Ventress's raspy voice. ' Yes, we started a new Jedi Order in honour of the old one. He is kindly requesting for your help in lightsaber instructing on Yavin 4, seeing that you have experience of duelling with Form II.'

' And why should I believe this? It could well be a ruse by the Imperials to capture me,' Ventress said a taunting voice. ' Prove it. Prove that it is real.'

Ezra sighed to himself, _See, Ahsoka knew this was going to happen._ He reached into his tunic pocket and pulled out a holoprojector. Holding out the projector for Ventress to see, he pressed the button to play a pre-recorded holo video.

A blue holo figure of Ahsoka Tano appeared over the holoprojector.

' Hello there, Redblade, or should I say, Asajj Ventress?' The recording of Ahsoka smirked teasingly. ' Well, in case you forgot, this is Ahsoka Tano, aka _Skywalker's filthy obnoxious little pet_. Remember me now?'

Ventress extinguished her lightsaber in shock. _She's alive!_

' Okay, I had the feeling that you wouldn't believe in what young Ezra is saying over here,' Ahsoka continued with a confident smile. ' But it's true. I am back in the Order now, except that it is a New Jedi Order, created by Master Anakin Skywalker's son, Luke Skywalker. We have loads of new initiates, instructors, ghosts, sand-haters, cookie lovers, yada yada yada, but it seems that we don't have a proper Form II instructor and we are in dire need of one. So what does this job sound like? Free food, free shower, free bed, _exciting_ activities and oh, we could even give you credits for your generous help. What does this sound like? Definitely better than bounty hunting. So what are you waiting for, come join us! Oh yeah, we allow attachments too!' And she was gone.

After a couple stunned seconds, Ventress found herself snorting and laughing at how ridiculous Ahsoka's mini speech was. Really, she was as 'obnoxious' and 'snippy' as ever. And well, those qualities did help her survive through grating reality.

' Um, er, is that enough to convince you?' Ezra pocketed his holoprojector uncertainly.

' You are lucky I am in a good mood today,' Ventress rasped. ' Sure, I'll go with you. But I want _compensation_ for losing my victim.'

' What compensation?' Ezra asked wearily.

' Maybe... around 1 million credits?' Ventress shrugged.

Ezra perked up, alarmed at how costly the compensation was. But then, he sighed, ' Fine, we'll give you that. Follow me.'

* * *

' Ezra isn't back yet,' Kanan gritted his teeth.

Anakin rolled his eyes with thinly veiled exasperation. He and Ahsoka were picking up from Ezra's previous work, building more training lightsabers with the leftover crystals. The initiates often broke their lightsabers, and at this rate, Ahsoka reckoned they would need to make a quick trip to Ilum to get crystals, especially when the kids were badgering her non-stop to get them white crystals.

' Have faith in your apprentice,' Ahsoka reminded him, tossing another lightsaber in the finished pile. ' He just left _yesterday_. Give him some time. It is Ventress, the former Sith assassin he is trying to get.'

' I know, I know! But I can't help but feel that something is wrong,' Kanan groaned, nearly kicking over a stack of boxes in frustration. ' I have a very bad feeling about it.'

Ahsoka and Anakin shot each other worried looks, but didn't say anything. Before Kanan could say anything else, Luke popped into the room in delight, ' Hey everyone, good news! Ezra's shuttle is back!'

Relief filled Kanan's face, and he ran out with the others to welcome Ezra back, and probably, Ventress as well if he had succeeded.

First up, Ezra walked down the ramp to greet his fellow crew mates. Kanan patted Ezra's shoulder, totally relieved that his young apprentice survived his mission and secretly proud of him.

' Told you I would come back alive,' Ezra said smugly. ' And well, I told her _everything_ about us, and she knows everything, including where the alive Anakin came from, yada yada yada. Oh, and she wants 1 million credits, because I interrupted her bounty hunting.'

' Good job, kid,' Zeb pounded Ezra on his back approvingly. ' Except for the 1 million credits part. Where are we going to get the money?'

Secondly, Ventress approached them, with her helmet tucked under her arm and in her full bounty hunter glory. Most peculiar of all to Anakin and Ahsoka, she was no longer bald. She was growing short silver-blonde hair.

' Skywalker, Tano,' She nodded at the pair politely, which was a first. Back then, she would greet them viciously with a lightsaber blade to their throat, or calling them extremely 'flattering' names.

' Ah,' Ahsoka said with barely concealed glee. ' I see you are no longer a hairless harpy! Congratulations!'

' Still as obnoxious as ever,' Ventress commented with a snort.

Ezra raced back to introduce Ventress to Luke, and at this, Ventress crossed her arms incredulously, ' Are you telling me this is Skywalker's son? Who's the mother?'

' Um,' Luke gulped, embarrassed.

' Be nice to my son, Ventress,' Ghost-Anakin appeared to Ventress's right and glowered at her murderously. The rest of the crowd groaned.

' There goes the sand-hater,' Caleb muttered quietly to Ezra, who nodded.

' Well, if it isn't the former Darth Vader,' Ventress smirked sarcastically, completely unfazed by the angry ghost. ' Many thanks to you for sending your silly Inquisitors after me, so that I could collect bounty and get extremely wealthy just for capturing them.'

Ghost-Anakin, who wasn't at all surprised by the fact that Ventress knew his former identity, frowned, ' So, Redblade is you? You can't blame me for sending my best Inquisitors after you. Imperials kept disappearing! Old Sid was threatening to demote me to the rank of a Stormtrooper!'

' Urgh, best?' Ventress shook her head with disgust. ' I'll have to say I am highly disappointed. Your Inquisitors possess extremely low skills and horrible manners. One has made an ever-lasting impression on me, that blue-haired girl. Blundered over her own lightsaber and impaled her foot. Stupid girl. Which one was that? The Sixth Sister? The Fourth Sister? Or was that the Tenth Sister?'

' Blue-haired one?' Ghost-Anakin raised an eyebrow (Luke groaned). ' I think that is the Eighth Sister. The Sixth sister is the Cerean girl-'

' Oh yeah,' Ventress didn't look impressed. ' The one who literally cracked her lightsaber in half in the middle of a duel.'

' And the Fourth Sister is the Togruta girl, with yellow and white headtails...' Ghost-Anakin recounted and was starting to grow slightly disgruntled at Ventress's mean comments of his best Inquisitors. 'And er... The Tenth Sister should be the Iktotchi girl with the really really bad temper, remember?'

' Argh, yes, the Tenth Sister. The one that threw herself out of the window. But I don't care, Skywalker,' Ventress was starting to get moody. ' I could just defeat them all without breaking a sweat and make a fortune out of getting bounty. Who even trained them?'

' I did,' Ghost-Anakin said, sounding very hurt.

' Such disappointment, Skywalker,' Ventress frowned. ' I expect Inquisitors of better quality, at least they should match up to Tano's skills.'

' Wow, I feel flattered,' Ahsoka placed a hand over her heart. ' That's too good to be true.'

' Um, can we not talk about Inquisitors for the time being?' Luke piped up, anxious to get to the real topic. ' Can we talk... Actual business? Tea and cookies anyone?'

' Um, I ate all of the cookies,' Caleb confessed apologetically. ' Sorry.'

' Er, that's okay...' Luke scratched the back of his head. ' Let's have tea and muffins. We do have muffins right?'

' Yes, lucky for us, Matt didn't eat them all!' Caleb confirmed cheerfully. ' Let's go!'

 **In that case, I'll be off to the 'holiday'!**

 **I think I might just write down a checklist of things I need during the Season finale... Let me see...**

 **\- A packet of tissues**

 **\- A large box of tissues**

 **\- More tissues**

 **\- More and more tissues**

 **Yeah. Thanks for that! :) Oof, all the previews are making me excited! :P**


	32. Chapter 32

**Okay. So... I'm back. From the Season Finale.** **:O**

 **Since I have a lot to say about this episode, this is how this chapter's gonna work. At the bottom of this story (AN), I will put down some of my burning questions and thoughts for the episode, but in case some of you haven't watched it yet, I'm just going to put down an extra 'Me and Star Wars' section as a barrier between the story and my 'rants'. If you haven't watched the episode yet, I think that you should stop reading immediately when you see the Me and Star Wars part, then after you have watched it, maybe you can come back and read the notes.**

 **Heavy spoiler alerts below. You have been warned. Thank you! :P**

' So, Ventress, please tell us whether you are involved with those Jedi equipments,' Luke poured tea with such sophistication that Obi-wan would be extremely proud.

' Of course, I am,' Ventress said smugly. ' I was the one who smuggled them out of the Temple.'

' You did?' Ghost-Anakin raised an eyebrow. ' But... That place was the Imperial Palace! How the Force did you manage to smuggle things in and out without being spotted by an Imperial Guard or Stormtroopers or... Me?'

Ventress shrugged, ' Well, that was before the Temple was converted into the Imperial Palace, of course. Order 66 had just been issued for about 3 days and Stormtroopers were still clearing up debris and the bodies of your Jedi friends. It was kind of easy to sneak in, especially when those Stormtroopers were extremely ignorant and silly.'

Ahsoka asked curiously, ' Who recruited you for this job? Surely you wouldn't go into the Temple to help us if it weren't... Someone offered you bounty?'

' Yes, and no,' Ventress smirked. ' Because this happened...'

 _Flashback_

 _Ventress clutched her comlink stiffly, waiting for whatever client that wanted to meet with her. She was waiting at the lower levels of Coruscant as she was instructed by the client._

 _Suddenly, a small speeder dropped low in front of her, and a cloaked man got off it to speak to her._

 _' So, you are Redblade, right?' The man asked her carefully. Well well well. This voice sounded rather familiar._

 _' Yes,' Ventress answered after a small pause. She was still working hard to get used to this fake name, as she needed to sound as convincing as possible, or else the help Master Kenobi (is he dead or not?) offered to her would be a massive waste if she were to be captured by the Empire._

 _' Let's just drop the fake names, Ventress,' The man sighed, and he removed his hood to reveal the face of Senator Bail Organa underneath. ' My name is Bail Organa. And I need your help.'_

 _Ventress took a step back, alarmed by the fact that this Senator knew her real identity._

 _' There's no need to get suspicious,' Bail waved off. ' Master Kenobi told me of your fake death, and if I haven't mistaken, you are a bounty hunter, right?'_

 _' Yes, I am,' Ventress tiled her head slightly, curious at why this Senator would request to meet her._

 _' I need your help. As you know, the Jedi Temple was purged by the Imperials, but there are still some valuable Jedi training equipments in the Temple that are not stolen, yet. I want you to retrieve them and bring them to me,' Bail said calmly._

 _That was one strange request._

 _' You do know that Stormtroopers are all over the Temple,' Ventress wrinkled her nose._

 _' Ah, I know,' Bail nodded. ' But I trust your abilities. They are no better than the Separatist droids.'_

 _'_ Right,' _Ventress said wearily. ' But why would you want to retrieve those things? Most of the Jedi are dead and those things won't be much of a use to you... Besides... You are not Force-sensitive.'_

 _' Jedi are gone, for now,' Bail answered. ' But I believe a New Hope would emerge in the future. These things might not be as useless as you think. So, how's it? Will you do it for 3 million credits?'_

 _Ventress licked her lips. She needed the money, alright. ' Okay then,' Ventress sighed after a long pause. ' I'll do it. I might as well go back in and retrieve my lightsabers from the ruins. Heard it was Barriss Offee who took my precious lightsabers. I need some weapons to protect myself at difficult times like this.'_

 _' I agree,' Bail said grimly. ' Especially when Darth Vader is running around like that. Speaking of Vader, remember to stay away from that guy. He kills without a thought.'_

 _' Of course,' Ventress frowned behind her mask. ' Well, I'll probably be done by tomorrow. How about this... Same time, same place tomorrow?'_

 _' Cool,' Bail shuffled out his cloak. ' I wish you best of luck. May the Force be with you.'_

 _The common Jedi saying was alien to Ventress. Her former Jedi Master Ky Narec would always say that to her, but it was a long, long time ago._

 _She nodded, but didn't say anything else, and leapt up onto the nearest building, ready to carry out her bidding._

* * *

' You _really_ went back into the Temple?' Kanan said incredulously. ' You could get caught by Vader!'

' Strange, Vader was nowhere to be seen,' Ventress looked at Ghost-Anakin. ' I just ran into the Temple, retrieved my lightsabers from the locked room in the archives, then sneaked some equipments into a couple large boxes, heaved them out using the Force and jumped on my ship to escape. Where were you the whole time?'

' Me?' Ghost-Anakin shouted furiously. ' I was being treated in the medical centre. I was roasted to a crisp, thank you very much! Speaking of which... Come out here, Old Man!'

The said 'Old Man' materialised next to Ghost-Anakin, huffing in annoyance. ' Oh, _hello there_ ,' Obi-wan said with mild surprise when he spotted Ventress looking at him.

' Kenobi,' Ventress said calmly. ' It has been a long time.'

' Sure, it is,' Obi-wan crossed his arms.

' I am rather surprised that Vader and his silly Stormtroopers didn't track you down,' Ventress shot a smirk at Ghost-Anakin's direction. ' Good for you.'

' Ah, he wouldn't,' Obi-wan grinned gleefully. ' I managed to hide in the best planet ever... No way in a million years would the sand-hating guy go on this sand-covered planet ever again.'

' I did kill you in the end,' Ghost-Anakin growled, annoyed.

' Oho, I let you kill me, this doesn't count,' Obi-wan sniggered.

Luke obviously scented that a large scale bickering would begin soon, so he quickly interrupted their conversation, ' Can we leave this bickering for some other time, perhaps when both of you are alone outside? Thank you. Now... Ventress, I need to talk to you about the job... Are you willing to take it up?'

' Yeah,' Ventress replied. ' But I want my compensation first. Is that right, Ezra dear?'

' Huh?' Luke glanced swiftly at Ezra, confusion flitting over his face. ' What compensation?'

Ezra coughed weakly, ' Er, yeah. I kind of interrupted her bounty hunting activity. Some kind of... imperial dude-'

' That was a 15 thousand credits worth Imperial you lost,' Ventress provided helpfully. ' I have been tracking him for _months_. Nearly fell off a cliff in the process.'

' Very well, you will have your compensation,' Luke sighed. ' Name your price.'

' I believe we have landed on a conclusion already, Ezra dear,' She laughed. ' I want 1 million credits.'

Luke and Ahsoka's jaw dropped simultaneously at the price. ' Um,' Ahsoka managed to choke out after a small moment of hesitation. ' That's _a lot_ of money.'

' Yeah,' Luke fretted, not knowing what to say.

' Wow,' Caleb murmured quietly to Anakin. ' I can buy a lot of rancors and womp rats from that Tatooine dealer with 1 million credits. How's that?'

' No, I thought we talked about this. We are NOT going to buy rancors or womp rats,' Anakin closed his eyes in horror. ' Think of another better plan.' Caleb pouted.

' Not exactly,' Ventress pointed out. ' I once dished out the Tenth Brother, Fifth Sister, Sixth Sister, Tenth Sister and Ninth Brother all in one big bunch to the Rebel Alliance. And they gave me 1 million credits for each Inquisitor I got.'

' So that's where they all went!' Ghost-Anakin fumed. ' That's where the five missing Inquisitors went! Oh, how terrible! What did you do to them?'

' Heard the Rebel Alliance recruited them as... Janitors,' Ventress smiled (at this, Ghost-Anakin winced). ' Nah, I'm just kidding with you all. 15 thousand would suffice. This is a reasonable price, isn't it, Ezra dear?'

Ezra was starting to get a little uncomfortable at being called 'Ezra dear', but he nodded stiffly.

' Yes, yes,' Luke said, extremely relieved. ' We'll pay you 15 thousand credits.'

' Good, good,' Ventress said pleasantly.

And... That was how Luke's Jedi Order got a new Form II instructor.

 **Hooray for a new Form II instructor! XD**

 **As I have said, here is an extra 'Me and Star Wars' section... And as a reminder, for those who haven't seen Twilight of the Apprentice yet, you should pull away and stop reading now (unless you want to get spoiled) ! :D**

 **Okay? Okay. So here we go:**

 **Classmate (another good friend of mine): Hm. I am thinking of watching the Star Wars movies in summer. What do you think about this?**

 **Me: *gasps* OHHHHHHHHHHH... THAT'S WONDERFUL! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU.**

 **Friend: WELCOME TO THE FANDOM! GOOD FOR YOU, MY FRIEND!**

 **Classmate: Um, er... thanks...**

 **Me: I'm really proud of you, my dear, dear friend. Now, after you have watched them all, we can come back and celebrate!**

 **Classmate: Er-**

 **Friend and I: No more words, welcome! Welcome! What a wonderful day! *runs off and sings Throne Room Theme song***

 **Classmate: *stares from the distance in horror***

* * *

 **Okay. There goes... *rants but tries not to say too much***

 **WOW. What an amazing, fantastic, marvellous, wonderfully tear-jerking episode we have here! :'D I mean, everything is terrific, the music, the animation, the dialogue. Wow. Just wow.**

 **The ending... Well... I have a lot to say. Let's see... I think Kanan will still be extremely awesome with his lightsaber even if he is, er, blinded.**

 **Ezra... He'll need a new lightsaber, I guess. And ohhhhhh I hope he won't turn to the Dark Side :(**

 **Darth Maul... I think it is kind of a running joke to have him surviving everything.**

 **Sabercopters... (are they called sabercopters?) Hmmm... I guess this is a funny idea :D**

 **Ahsoka vs Vader... Wow. I'm speechless. The duel was epic, dialogue was tearjerking, and that final part where she hits part of his mask off, I'm like 'AAAAAH'. Ending seems pretty sad for Ahsoka, but I'm still on the 'Ahsoka Lives' side. Though, yeah, she is basically stranded on Malachor.**

 **Buuuuuuuut. Why would Yoda send them to Malachor in the first place? Seems a bit strange... :/**

 **I NEED SEASON 3 NOW! :O**


	33. Chapter 33

Caleb was interested in pranking someone.

No, he _wanted_ to prank someone.

The last time Ezra and him tried to prank Kanan, it didn't work and instead led him to a 'discovery of the era'. This time, he wanted a complete fail-safe prank.

Also, if he was to help with destroying the evil Sith Lord in his timeline (using womp rats or not), he would need to master the skills of stealth. So he went forward to speak to Ezra, who was meditating near the woods, about his evil master plan.

' Er,' Ezra answered, a bit surprised. ' Sure, we could do it. Do you have any good plans in mind?'

Before Caleb could reply (honestly he hadn't really thought about it), the kind ghost of Obi-wan was striding past them, humming merrily to himself

' Master Kenobi!' Caleb called. ' Where are you going?'

' I'm going on a trip to Jakku,' Obi-wan answered excitedly. ' Private sightseeing tour with the esteemed Master Yoda.'

' That's a desert planet,' Ezra said curiously. ' What can you see on there?'

' A lot,' Obi-wan smirked. ' Such as... Majestic, golden sand dunes that reflect light from the sun... And incredibly interesting ruins from broken shuttles.'

' Wow,' Caleb rolled his eyes sarcastically. ' You make sand sound wonderful. What would Master Skywalker say?'

' He would vomit!' Obi-wan answered optimistically. ' Now... I should get going. Master Yoda is waiting for me.'

' Wait!' Caleb said suddenly, an evil, brilliant plan forming in his head. ' Master Kenobi, would you mind helping me with something?' So evil, that the Jedi would disapprove. So evil, that his plan was worthy of... Er, a Sith.

' Yes?' Obi-wan asked and waited for a response.

' I need you to bring back some _souvenirs_ for me,' Caleb said with an evil grin and bent forward to whisper something to Obi-wan, much to Ezra's apprehension.

* * *

' No, you can't use your red lightsabers,' Ahsoka was trying to reason with Ventress.

Ventress said impatiently, ' Why can't I?'

' It is red,' Ahsoka explained wearily. ' I'm not prejudicing red or anything, but it is a Dark Side colour. Argh, let me say, a non-Jedi colour. And... It's not a good idea to use them with the young kids. I guess you could keep your hilt, but you have to change the crystals.' She gestured to the small pile of blue and green crystals.

Ventress huffed, more amused than angry, ' Well, tell me, Tano. Your lightsabers are white, aren't they?'

' Yes,' Ahsoka raised an eye marking.

' If I haven't mistaken the _literary_ meaning behind the colour,' Ventress stated. ' They symbolise your non-affialation with the Jedi or the Sith, right?'

' That's correct,' Ahsoka replied, curious at whatever plan Ventress was cooking up. As usual, the former Sith assassin was very unpredictable.

Ventress smirked, ' One last question, you agreed to rejoin this Order when the mini Skywalker asked you, right?'

' Uh, yeah,' Ahsoka frowned, still unable to decipher the meaning behind Ventress's questions.

' So!' Ventress said triumphantly. ' If you, a Jedi, are allowed to use non-Jedi lightsabers, then there is definitely no difference with me, an ex-Dark side acolyte, using non-Jedi lightsabers! Is that right, huh?'

Ahsoka rubbed her throbbing temples after listening to Ventress's logic. The logic sounded a bit crazy, but well, it was true.

' Alright, alright...' Ahsoka pushed away the temptation of 'face-palming'. ' You can use your old lightsaber crystals... Okay...'

' Thanks!' Ventress smiled smugly.

Ahsoka stowed away the pile of lightsaber crystals and sighed, ' Now, before you go off to your first lesson... There are points to add. Can you teach the kids some Jar'kai as well?'

' Jar'kai?' Ventress repeated with a small smile. ' They want to learn Jar'kai?'

' Yes,' Ahsoka grinned. ' They have been pestering me about it, but Skyguy doesn't think it is a good idea for them to learn it. Usually, I would sneak them some techniques while he is not looking. Just tell them you can wield two blades, teach them some techniques, then they will absolutely love you.'

' What's wrong with learning Jar'kai?' Ventress wrinkled her nose.

' Nothing, Skyguy is just stubborn,' The Togruta shrugged.

Ventress sighed, ' Oh well. I will teach them some Jar'kai techniques. What parts of Jar'kai have you not covered yet?'

* * *

Ezra seriously had no idea what daredevil plan Caleb had come up with.

The younger boy made him wait outside at the woods, until the ghost of Obi-wan showed up three hours later. It seemed like the ghost had mastered the art of solidifying himself enough to hold real objects, as he tossed Caleb a large drawstring bag of something upon his return.

' Use it well,' Obi-wan smiled mysteriously, and vanished into the background.

' What is that?' Ezra peered at the bundle, but Caleb deliberately ignored his question and kept walking into the building. Ezra couldn't help but follow.

The boy paused right underneath a heating vent, and nodded upwards, ' You first.'

Even more curious, Ezra used the Force to take the cover down and jumped into it, closely followed by Caleb. Once he sealed up the cover, he ignited his lightsaber to provide light.

' Now, I can show you whatever this is,' Caleb said importantly, and shoved the bag to Ezra. He took it gingerly and opened it to find...

Sand.

Ezra picked up a handful of it, feeling the coarse granules between his fingers. ' Sand?' He questioned. Then, at that moment, he understood. An evil grin spread on his face.

' Haha!' Caleb said with glee. ' We shall go prank Master Skywalker at once! Let's climb, shall we?'

The boys excitedly climbed through the vents to the direction of Anakin's room. But thanks to Ahsoka's previous advice, they remembered to mask their Force signatures.

' Okay, here we go,' Caleb peered cautiously down a vent. Below them, was Anakin Skywalker's quarters, and this time, he wasn't asleep (thank goodness). Instead, he was sitting on his bed, talking animatedly to Luke. And completely, by chance, they were directly above where they were sitting. Also, best of all, Ghost-Anakin was present as well.

' Perfect,' Caleb whispered. ' We got this sand-hating ghost with them as well.'

' Wonder what they are talking about,' Ezra murmured. ' But we shouldn't eavesdrop. It's not _that_ nice to eavesdrop.' Once these words left his mouth, he felt kind of weird. When he was still a teen, he often eavesdropped outside closed meeting doors, while Hera and the others were discussing about rebel stuff, or while Kanan and Ahsoka were talking about 'Jedi' stuff.

Caleb dramatically waved the bag of sand around, ' Do you want to do the honours?'

' Yes please,' Ezra snickered, ' mind holding the light?'

Caleb received Ezra's lightsaber carefully, and watched as Ezra untied the bag of sand. Using the Force, he tried to move over the vent cover as soundlessly as possible.

' There's no need to open it entirely,' Caleb whispered. ' Just a small hole will do, okay?' And that was done.

' I'm ready,' Ezra murmured. ' Shall we begin?'

Caleb cackled (unknown to him, he sounded exactly like Sidious), ' Good! We'll begin.'

Ezra gently tipped over the bag of sand, watching as the golden powder trickled down gracefully, like golden rain. He was almost mesmerised by the liquid gold. Both of them watched, with bated breath, as the sand started to tumble down...

Lo and behold! There came (possibly) the girliest shriek they had ever heard, followed by screams.

They carefully crept up to witness the havoc they wrecked below. Ghost-Anakin was screaming like mad, jumping up and down to avoid the sand one final terrified squeal, he completely ran through the wall and disappeared. Anakin simply recoiled away from the sand in disgust. On the other hand, Luke bursted out laughing.

The boys crept away from the vents and down to the ground floor, but they paid dearly for their prank. Once they dropped to the ground, they were confronted by an extremely murderous Ghost-Anakin and a disapproving Anakin (who was shaking his head).

But well, if someone were to ask Caleb, he would say that it was worth it.

 **Some spoilers about the next chapter. :D I will have the characters address events in 'Twilight of the Apprentice'.**

 **That episode was a real game-changer, and as AU as this story is, I want it to have some kind of relation to canon. It will be some sort of speculation type of thing. I tend to think up optimistic endings, so please bear with me (unless you like miserable endings) :D**


	34. Chapter 34

A rather grumpy and murderous Ghost-Anakin joined them for dinner. His indignant expression was so hilarious that Ezra and Caleb wanted to laugh. But not wanting to further irritate the ghost, they pressed down their laughter by swallowing large mouthfuls of hot soup.

It turned out when they were having their prank, the hangar bay was rather eventful. Luke retold the story over his soup.

Lora accidentally deflected a bolt at a training droid and exploded the poor machine. Unfortunately the droid took down the top of a tree while it exploded in sparks, and the tree just happened to collapse on top of the Ghost. Sounded rather dramatic, but the others saw it all. While the others were looking with horror at the burning ship, Ahsoka stepped up to fix the seemingly unflyable ship, and managed to save it within three hours.

' Oh yeah,' Hera said, obviously relieved. ' Thanks, Ahsoka, for fixing the ship. I seriously don't know what to do without the Ghost. Thought it was a goner for sure.'

' Yeah, I thought it is forever damaged,' Luke nodded. ' How did you do that?'

' Actually...' Ahsoka pondered for a moment. ' I have seen worse. Remember the cracking TIE fighter Advanced x1?'

Grins started to appear on everyone's faces, except for Anakin, Ghost-Anakin and Luke, who were confused.

' Ah yes,' Zeb smiled pleasantly. ' We should congratulate the best ship fixing Rebel.'

' Cracking TIE?' Ghost-Anakin frowned, looking around. ' Where did you get one?'

' Your cracking TIE fighter,' Ahsoka said. ' On Malachor. The one you used for your dramatic entrance in the Temple.'

Realisation started to dawn on Ghost-Anakin's face, ' Oh. That one. But wait. How... I checked it! It should be crushed by all the exploded bits of the Temple!'

' WHOA wait,' Anakin blurted out in terror. ' You don't mean _the_ Malachor right? The Sith Temple? Why the Force would you people go on Malachor?'

' Ah,' Kanan mumbled, sounding rather uncomfortable. Apparently he had no intention of reminiscing that terrible place, where he nearly lost his vision.

' To get a Sith Holocron,' Ezra replied plainly, shivering at the thought.

' A SITH HOLOCRON?' Anakin paled (Luke didn't know what it was but it didn't sound good). ' Snips, don't tell me you are involved as well.'

' I am,' Ahsoka confirmed. ' Sorry.'

' I am too,' Ghost-Anakin said. ' I wouldn't be there if it weren't for you people!'

' Wait... How... Please don't me you fought him,' Anakin pointed at Ghost-Anakin shakily.

' Yes we did,' Ezra answered forlornly. ' And he broke my lightsaber.'

' That's not the point,' Ghost-Anakin turned to Ahsoka. ' Now you said it, you never did tell me how you managed to get off Malachor. I thought you died. I even told the Emperor you perished on Malachor!'

' Oh, that,' Ahsoka snickered.

* * *

Flashback

Ahsoka was sitting in a meditative stance, putting herself under a Force-healing trance. Fortunately, Barriss taught her how to heal herself with the Force, and that was one of the reasons why Ahsoka liked her (except that she betrayed her in the end). Also, the healing trance gave her ample time to think about Vader and plans to escape this dark planet.

The duel with Anakin- no, Vader exhausted her both mentally and physically, and she doubted if she could recover soon. Seeing the face of her former Master on that monster was excruciatingly painful, and she couldn't bring herself to duel with him. Thankfully, the explosion of the Temple interrupted her duel, so that she could have time to pull away and hide in the Temple, until she could sense the Dark Lord got away from Malachor.

Once she felt that she was rather healed up, she stood up from the ground to survey the smoking ruins of the place. She limped to the far edge of the room, where Vader's TIE was parked at. Hm... Maybe...

No. It was probably damaged by the debris. That wouldn't work.

Despite that, she dragged herself to examine the damages of the fighter. Surely, the fighter sustained heavy damages from the falling debris. The solar array wings were crushed. Some of the engines simply burnt out. The viewport got cracked in half. Worse of all, the hyperdrive was heavily damaged.

Basically, this thing was unflyable.

Groaning to herself, she stumbled off to find some alternative escape routes. She expected that Vader would take off using either the Fifth Brother's TIE or the Seventh Sister's TIE. Forget about the Eighth Brother's TIE, she guessed Maul survived and escaped using that ship. Possibly... One of the TIEs could still be left out there...?

No. Vader wouldn't be as stupid as this. He wouldn't want her to leave this planet, so he could purposely damage the remaining ship, so that she would be forced to stay here. But she must try.

She used what little energy she had to climb upwards and onto the surface of the planet. Sure enough, at the far end of the Sith Temple entrance, stood an Inquisitor TIE fighter. There was a slash the shape of an 'X' on the hyperdrive and engines, obviously marked by a lightsaber, instantly rendering the ship useless.

Ahsoka slumped down in exhaustion, resting her back on it. So basically, she was stranded on this dangerous planet, with a useless ship and a heavily damaged ship. She was pretty sure she would either die of dehydration or starve to death within a couple hours.

 _I'd sure rather have died fighting up there than starve to death down_ here.

She laughed softly to herself. She would strive to survive no matter what.

She lugged the TIE Fighter using the Force with what little strength she had to the Sith Temple, next to Vader's damaged TIE Fighter Advanced x1.

Her plan was to use unbroken pieces of the other TIE to fix Vader's TIE. The hyperdrive was half-broken, but it was possible for her to fix it.

If she worked hard enough, she could get Vader's TIE to fly for some distance, and hopefully take her back to Atollon.

Firstly, she took out the spare tools from her utility belt and started working on it right away, transplanting the needed parts (that worked) onto the other TIE, rebooting all engines and discarded any useless bits. While she worked, she imagined Anakin and R2 by her side, giving her necessary tips and support as they would in the past. At least that gave her some hope that she could succeed.

Maybe the Force was really in her favour, as by the end of the fourth hour, she managed to get the engines of Vader's TIE working again. She wasn't entirely sure whether it was really fixed, but she was rather confident that it could at least bring her back to the base.

Wiping the grease from her forehead, she climbed with difficulty into the cramped space and activated the engines. It didn't take her long to study the functions of all the buttons and soon enough, she was soaring into the sky of Malachor. The moment has come for her to activate the hyperspace, and luckily enough, it worked.

She would home in no time!

* * *

Ezra was sulking outside, watching the sun rise. He couldn't sleep at all, eaten alive by guilt. If he hadn't trusted Maul, Ahsoka wouldn't have died, and Kanan wouldn't be blind and...

He sighed. Even the beautiful scenery couldn't cheer him up.

' Hey kid,' Rex sat down next to Ezra. ' Can't sleep?'

Ezra nodded dejectedly.

' Don't be so hard on yourself,' Rex patted the boy's back. ' Get some rest.'

' But... Kanan's blind because of me... Ahsoka's dead because of me...' Ezra put his face in his hands. ' That's all my fault. I can't...'

' The Rebel doctors are fixing him up,' Rex tried to go for a more optimistic tone. ' They said only his eyelids got cut and they just swelled shut that he couldn't see. With a whole load of bacta patches and rest, his vision will be fine. And as for Ahsoka... She wouldn't blame you. It wasn't your fault.'

Hearing that Kanan could be healed lessened some of his guilt, but the fact that Ahsoka was gone forever still haunted him endlessly. She was a very good friend and she accompanied them on the time travelling trip. It was still painful to think she was gone.

He decided to ignore Rex for the time being to hide his sadness, and kept on looking at the orange sky, savouring the small moment of peace. However, a sight in the sky nearly shocked him to death.

A single TIE Advanced x1 was hurtling towards them in high speed. Vader's TIE.

' Oh, lord,' Ezra scrambled to stand up. ' Vader. He's here. He's found us.'

It seemed like everyone in the base had seen the TIE fighter coming for them, and was in full alert mode. They readied guns and canons to shoot the fighter down. Hera and Sabine could be seen near one of the canons, their faces white in fear at the approaching Sith Lord.

However, something about the Force presence in the TIE surprised Ezra. The presence was... So filled with the power of the Light Side and not as twisted as Vader. How could that be...

As if in a trance, he ordered, ' Don't shoot yet.'

' What?' Zeb exclaimed. ' Are you crazy, kid? Vader's coming to get us.'

' Trust me,' Ezra said firmly. The Rebels glanced at each other worriedly, but followed Ezra's orders.

The TIE landed a small distance away from them with a dramatic 'krrrrrmmmp'. Everyone watched with growing anxiety, as a figure climbed out, coughing. A figure that wasn't Vader.

Rex squinted, ' What in the-'

The figure approached them, close enough for them to see...

' AHSOKA?' Ezra gasped, stunned. ' You...'

' Miss me?' She winked victoriously. She was battered, grimy, bruised and looking tired, but definitely alive.

Hera and Sabine rushed forward to welcome her. Rex was so relieved that he was almost in tears.

' How is Kanan?' Ahsoka asked Ezra immediately, once she was near him.

' He is fine,' Ezra said happily, relief expanding in his chest. Both of his friends were safe and sound.

Rex nodded at Ahsoka, ' I'm so glad you are alive, Sir.'

' Me too,' Ahsoka said with a small smile. ' I still can't believe I managed to come back all the way in that TIE. But that's for later. I think I should go for a shower and a hot meal.'

' I'll cook you something to eat,' Hera chuckled. ' Meanwhile, rest.'

* * *

' Woah,' Luke exclaimed. ' You literally just popped back to them on a half-broken TIE? Now that's impressive.'

' I know right?' Ezra nodded his head with respect. ' Since then, Ahsoka has been our top ship fixer.'

Ghost-Anakin groaned, ' What ever happened to my poor old TIE?'

Kanan shrugged, ' I think the technicians broke the fighter apart for spare metals.' He added as an afterthought, ' Sorry.'

Anakin was still rather sick. ' Ahsoka, I... I could have killed you. Really.'

' Nah, she's too good to be killed,' Ghost-Anakin beamed proudly. ' I am so proud of you, Snips, I really am. Though... I must say I was rather surprised to see you alive in the next duel.'

' Yeah,' Ezra smirked. Ahsoka had been trying hard to pretend that she was dead after the Malachor expedition, since she wanted to avoid Vader. However, on a supply run to Lothal (it seemed like Vader was more and more intent to chase them down), Ahsoka accompanied them to fight Vader. Gave Vader quite a shock.

' Ain't everyday you see Vader shocked,' Obi-wan snickered.

 **Yeah, this is my take on what would happen. Because... I am overly optimistic...? :)**


	35. Chapter 35

Dinner carried on and people started to joke how scaredy Ghost-Anakin was.

' I wasn't shocked!' Ghost-Anakin huffed angrily, crossing his arms and feeling that it was only right to justify his feelings. ' I was just surprised. Ain't everyday someone pops back to life from death to haunt you.'

' I wasn't back to haunt you,' Ahsoka said stubbornly. ' I was going to disappear forever, but you were trying to kill my friends!' It was true. She had been trying to keep her profile low for around one and a half year since the Malachor accident, occasionally working for Jun Sato only under the alias of Fulcrum and never showing her face to anyone, except the Ghost Crew and Rex, but she avoided seeing them as well, in order to having them caught in Imperial entanglements. However, things were going out of hand as Ezra's second lightsaber was chopped in half (again) that Ahsoka had to jump down from her faraway hiding spot to cross blades with Vader while smiling evilly, ' Miss me?'

' _You_ ,' Vader had gasped (or at least it sounded like a gasp), nearly tripping over his foot, which was a first time, earning the rebels enough time to escape off the face of the planet before the Stormtroopers along with their Dark Lord went out of their stupor.

' Aha,' Ezra reminisced dreamily. ' How embarrassing.' A purple tinge appeared on Ghost-Anakin's bluish face.

' Anyways, I actually had no hope of redeeming Vader,' Ahsoka helped herself to some fruit. ' Thought the job belongs to someone else, and boy, I was right.' She and Luke high-fived in the background.

Luke continued laughing, but he retained his business mode, ' Now... I guess... Caleb, you guys are going back in a couple days, right?'

' Four, to be exact,' Caleb munched on his sandwich with great gusto.

Kanan seemed anxious, ' What is going to happen when they go back though? Will anything happen to us if they change stuff?' He wasn't sure if he wanted things to change. If things in the past didn't change, then he would still have his Master and his Temple friends. But if things did change, that would mean losing his beloved Ghost Crew and Ezra.

' That, I have no idea,' Ezra frowned. ' Daughter did say that if we are lucky, our timelines will merge together or coexist as two separate timelines. If we are not lucky, we could be destroyed.'

' Let's have some optimism, shall we?' Rex said. ' So, Caleb and Mr. General, do you have any plans of how to defeat the Sith Lord Chancellor?'

' I'd like to buy a rancor,' Caleb said innocently. ' But Master Skywalker wouldn't let me.'

' A rancor?' Luke raised an eyebrow skeptically. He had a terrible experience with a rancor in Jabba's palace, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to reminisce that moment. Besides, his sister was almost made a slave.

Anakin waved his hand, ' Forget about the rancor. We will think of a plan to eliminate the Sith Lord once we get back. Without notifying the Council, obviously.'

' You should notify us,' Obi-wan shook his head disapprovingly. ' We could help you. Or, you could at least ask the past me for help. You never ask me for help even if you need some.'

' How in the Force am I going to ask you for help when you are off Coruscant on some kind of stupid Jedi-only mission?' Anakin wrinkled his nose, trying hard to remember where his former Master had been before he got shipped off to this future.

' Off Coruscant? Where?' Obi-wan asked curiously.

' Investigating some kind of Separatist plot on Ansion, with Master Mundi, I believe,' Ghost-Anakin remembered. ' And your battalion was left on Coruscant playing bolo-ball and getting drunk. Ah, praise my good memory! I could still remember stuff from the past!'

Obi-wan paled, ' Cody would never... Well! The clones deserve some fun! And that is not the point! Sooo. You are planning to destroy the Sith without the Council's help. Great. Anything else to add?'

' We can't just kill him on the spot,' Anakin groaned. ' Or else people would just assume the Jedi are taking over. We must let the world know that Palpatine is the Sith Lord. But that's gonna be hard. Like super hard.'

' I guess we could always sneak up on him,' Caleb shrugged.

' Oh, you have no idea,' Obi-wan crossed his arms. ' Palpatine is well-guarded with those ridiculous royal guards. No way you can sneak up on Palpatine without the guards seeing you. That's kind of impossible.'

Caleb shrugged again, ' Impossible for civilians, perhaps. But possible for us Jedi.'

' Jedi or not,' Kanan said. ' This task is hard, and you, Padawan, should leave this for Master Skywalker, who is much more experienced than you.'

' Hey!' Caleb exclaimed indignantly.

On the other hand, Anakin was murmuring, ' I am also thinking of revealing my marriage to the Council after this Sith Lord threat is over.'

' What?' Luke gasped. ' Are you serious? You could actually get expelled for that, you know.'

' Not quite,' Obi-wan stroked his beard thoughtfully. ' Not right away. They would give you a Jedi Trial, where you would be asked to defend yourself, or some other people could come to defend you.'

' Defend?' Ahsoka asked.

' Yes,' Obi-wan nodded. ' Cases happened before when there are breaches of Jedi Code. Jedi friends or clones, even are actually permitted to present themselves in front of the case to defend the subject. If you could get someone to defend you, you might be lucky.'

' Hark,' Ahsoka said. ' No one defended me in my trial.'

' That was different,' Obi-wan said. ' It was a crime trial.'

' Whatever,' Anakin sighed. ' It doesn't matter even if I got expelled. It... Probably won't be that bad, I guess. At least I get to be with Padme. Or maybe I could still fight for the Republic as a General, but not as a Jedi.'

' I thought you liked being a Jedi,' Ghost-Anakin frowned.

' Well yes...' Anakin scratched the back of his head.

Luke insisted firmly, ' Then, you must find someone to defend for you. Father, surely you want to keep being a Jedi, don't you? Besides, I doubt if the Council would cast the Chosen One away that easily.'

' Yeah, they still tossed away Ahsoka,' Anakin snarled.

' Let's go for some more optimism, shall we?' Obi-wan bowed his head slightly. ' The Council was already extremely apologetic for everything that happened. I trust that they will be, er, slightly more considerate this time.'

Anakin made a face. He wasn't sure whether to trust the Council, but well, guess he could try.

 **Sorry if this chapter is a bit boring :(**

 **Anyways... Here is a 'Me and Star Wars' section!**

 **Friend: I found this Clone Wars CD at the bottom of my drawer yesterday so I watched some of it.**

 **Me: Cool. What episode was it?**

 **Friend: Don't know. Though I can remember some of the scenes. There was this part... Where Ahsoka was talking to Obi-wan and Anakin.**

 **Me: Yes?**

 **Friend: Kind of introducing herself, or something...**

 **Me: Oh, so did she say, ' I'm the new Padawan learner, I'm Ahsoka Tano.'**

 **Friend: Huh, sounds like it.**

 **Me: *quotes* I'm at your service Master Kenobi, but I'm afraid I've been actually assigned to Master Skywalker. Whaat?! No no no no no. There must be some mistake. He's the one who wanted the Padawan.**

 **Friend: Yes yes!**

 **Me: *quotes some more* You're stuck with me Skyguy! What did you just call me? Don't get snippy with me little one.**

 **Friend: Oh lord, yes! What, you literally memorised the entire thing?**

 **Me: Why, yes. That is the Clone Wars movie.**


	36. Chapter 36

**In which Caleb and Anakin get back to their timeline. Okay... I know what you are thinking! This is not the end of our favourite heroes' story yet! :D They still have a universe to save!**

Few days before Anakin and Caleb's departure - 2 days to be exact, they got themselves some visitors. Han and Leia.

Luke was rather surprised when he was 'relaxing' outside his Temple to see the Millennium Falcon touch down to the hangar. With great excitement, he ran off to welcome his beloved sister and best friend. Luckily, Ghost-Anakin was nowhere to be seen, or else he would be blabbering hopelessly in front of his daughter.

' Luke!' Leia ran off to greet Luke, her face beaming with delight. ' I was just popping over to see you, with some food supplies and tools. There you go... Han should be carrying them out. Insisted that pregnant ladies shouldn't do anything... Oh look... Here he comes.' On the cue, Han was staggering out, his arms overloaded with overwhelmingly heavy boxes of food.

He deposited them on the ground. ' Oh hi, Luke,' He grinned tiredly at Luke. ' How's life?'

Before Luke could actually reply Han, Leia ordered, putting on the most 'princess-ly' facial expression ever, ' Han, dear, please take out the tool boxes also.'

Grimacing, Han trudged off.

' What brings you here, sis?' Luke put an arm around Leia, ushering her into the building so that he could make her a cup of tea.

' Ah yes,' Leia said. ' I am actually here because I want to talk to Father for a moment.'

' Father?' Luke asked curiously. ' The dead one? Or do you mean the alive one?'

' The less annoying one,' Leia said grimly.

Luke nodded, immediately understanding which Anakin she means, ' I'll bring him round in a sec.'

In a couple minutes, Luke brought an extremely confused Anakin down to the mess hall. His puzzlement was quickly converted to curiosity when he spotted Leia sitting at the table. Luke gave his father a small, encouraging wink, and walked away to help Han with his boxes.

' Oh, hey,' Anakin sat down awkwardly. ' Er, what brings you here?' He felt rather uncomfortable staring at Leia, as she looked so much like her mother, except she looked a bit more strict. It was almost like looking at a mini, severe-looking Padme Amidala. He could never imagine that expression on his wife.

Leia looked pointedly at him, ' So. You are leaving soon, right?'

' Um, yes,' Anakin squirmed, feeling he was 9 years old all over again and standing in front of the Queen of Naboo.

' I'm just here to ask you... Don't mess up again, okay?'

Anakin nodded.

* * *

The two days passed by as swift as lightning. Soon, Ahsoka, Rex and Kanan held an emergency meeting with Anakin and Caleb, just an hour away from their departure.

' Once you go back,' Ahsoka said thoughtfully. ' Try not to do anything flashy immediately. Palpatine is smarted than we think, he can just sense that something is fishy with you two.'

' Alright,' Anakin crossed his arms. ' Also, do I need to be especially careful in some future events?'

' Actually yes,' Ghost-Anakin yawned lazily. ' What is your next mission, if you even have one?'

Anakin recalled, ' Oh yeah. The Council briefed me on a mission. Some kind of battle on Ringo Vinda... With Master Tiplar and Tiplee. The twins, you know?'

' You need to be careful, General,' Rex warned. ' Tup's going to have a chip malfunction and he will kill Master Tiplar. Later, Fives will be killed when he tried to investigate the Order 66 plot. Do whatever you can to stop Tup from that, and all misery could be avoided.'

' That's just hard,' Caleb commented. ' You can't just pull that Tup guy away from battle for no reason.'

' I'll put some thought to that anyways,' Anakin said.

Kanan looked around, ' I will miss you two, I guess. Even if we don't see each other again... I'll wish you luck.'

' Thanks, Older-me,' Caleb murmured.

' You are welcome, Younger-me,' Kanan smiled back warmly.

On the other hand, Anakin wasn't taking the good-byes too well.

' Will I ever see you again, Snips?' He saddened just a bit.

' Maybe,' Ahsoka shrugged. ' Who knows? But if it is by the will of the Force we met up here, there is a high chance we could get reunited back in the old timeline. Good luck with saving the universe, Skyguy.'

' Yeah, just remember we all love you, Father,' Luke nodded. ' Just don't mess up again, Father.'

* * *

Anakin and Caleb were standing together, facing the forest. The rest of the people stood a small distance to the back, watching them closely and nervously.

Almost mysteriously, two figures appeared in front of the pair. The Daughter... And the Son. Everyone except 'the Mortis bunch' looked stunned at their sudden appearance.

' Blast, you are here too?' Anakin growled with hostility at the Son. He still never forgave the guy for nearly killing his Padawan and turning him to the Dark Side.

' Such hostility,' The Son feigned hurt. ' Anyways, I'm here to see you off.'

Daughter eyed her brother with thinly veiled annoyance, ' My brother is right. We are here to send you off. Good news! Your timeline won't be thrown into chaos after all. Good job!'

' Wow, astonishing,' Caleb muttered, sounding not surprised at all, but then his eyes lit up at the sight of the embodiment of the Dark Side.

' I might just have fun and kill you all,' The Son smiled maliciously.

' OOH COOL! So you are the Son dude, right?' He gawked at the Son.

' Yes,' The Son replied with disgust, momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected to be spoken to in such a way

' I was just wondering,' Caleb fired a whole bunch of questions. ' Why were you even named the Son? What language does that even belong to? Basic? Isn't that weird? When your sister calls you Son, it sounds so wrong, right? Do you feel strange when you call your Sister the Daughter? Who is your Mother anyway? Where is your Father? I thought they would be here? What do you even call them when they are together, you know what, Parents? Oh, so do they call you Children?'

Overwhelmed by the amount of questions Caleb was throwing at him, the Son threatened him murderously, ' I'm going to make your life a living hell, kid.'

Completely unfazed by the death threat, Caleb continued cornering the Son with questions. If the Dark Side could get confused, the Son most certainly was.

' That's quite enough,' The Daughter said, a small smile escaping the corner of her mouth at the sight of her brother's confused face. ' It's time for your journey back home, in case the timelines mess up. This stage is extremely fragile, so be careful.' This sounded ominous, and Caleb shivered.

Everyone shouted out their heartfelt goodbyes to their friends, and with a quick snap of the Daughter's fingers, Anakin and Caleb vanished in a brilliant, white flash, back to the beginning, right before the Empire times.

 **Whizzz! ;)**

 **Next chapter will be about Caleb and Anakin settling back to their own timeline... :)**


	37. Chapter 37

20 BBY

Voices. Caleb was starting to hear voices. That explained it. He was going mad.

 _Caleb._

He moaned, trying to use his hand to swat away the noise, but his arms were too heavy to be moved.

 _Caleb._

He blinked once or twice, to decipher where the noise came from, when his blurred vision started to clear up, to show his Master's face in front of him.

Out of shock, he sat up, narrowly knocking his head into Depa Billaba's face, and shouted, ' AUUUGH!' Then he looked around desperately, trying to locate where he was. He was on his bed in his quarters.

He was finally back in the past. He was so glad to see his Master again, but there was a slight twinge of sadness in him when he realised he could never see Older-me, or all the other friends anymore.

Surprised at her apprentice's strange behaviour, Depa reeled back for a bit, before asking anxiously, ' Caleb, are you alright? You were shouting in your sleep just now.'

' Oh, yeah,' Caleb stuttered. ' I just had a nightmare.'

' A nightmare?' Depa raised an eyebrow. ' What nightmare?'

' Yes, the world is going to be taken over by-' Caleb nearly bit his tongue when he realised his grave mistake. He shouldn't reveal anything that had to do with Sith Lords to his Master, because Anakin made him promise.

' The world is going to be taken over by what?' Depa smiled wearily.

' Uh, uh, rancors!' Caleb hurled out the first type of creature on his mind without thinking. ' Yeah, I dreamt that mad rancors would take over the galaxy! Haha, yeah!'

Depa laughed, assuming that Caleb was just being silly, ' Well, just to assure you, rancors aren't taking over the world at this moment, yet. Now, go to the refresher to get changed for breakfast.'

Caleb climbed off his bed and took a fresh set of tunic and robes to the refresher to get changed. Then he joined his Master at the table for breakfast. Oh, how he missed 'Coruscant's breakfasts'. Not that he hated 'Yavin 4 breakfasts', but no one could blame him for getting obsessed with the delicious Coruscanti sausages and bacon.

While he was busily wolfing down his meal, Depa stirred her caff, ' Caleb, after your morning Language lesson, I will be going to have a meeting with the Council, so you are free to do whatever you like in the afternoon, okay? But promise me you will behave in Language class. I know you hate language classes, but I hope that you would behave. Master Palmer is getting rather upset with your behaviour.'

However, much to her astonishment, Caleb simply got up from his seat, went over to the side room to get his book bag and obediently said, ' I shall go off to Language class right now.' And left the room for class.

It turned out Caleb had more to do in the 'past-future exchange program' than he had expected. Ezra had politely requested for Obi-wan Kenobi, aka the Master of Language Classes, beloved of all Language teachers in his time, to tutor Caleb in his Language materials. Somehow through Obi-wan's effective wheedling, teaching and negotiating (wow he wasn't called the Negotiator for nothing), Caleb started to like the idea of Language Classes.

So the other Padawans and Master Palmer were most bewildered when Caleb settled down in his class quietly. And during the lesson, they were told to write poems about animals, and Caleb wrote an epic poem about rancors and womp rats. Of course, Master Palmer generously commended his poem in front of the class for his effective use of imagery.

When he was packing his book bag to leave, Caleb thought about what to do after the lesson. Heck, he had been given free time!

He stalked down the corridors, extremely indecisive, until he spotted a group of clones from the 501st (notable in their blue-painted armour) walking past him. Then a glorious stroke of inspiration came upon him. How could he have forgotten the guy?

It's time to pay Master Skywalker a visit.

* * *

Anakin had a terrible morning.

He woke up with a terrible pain in his head and a dizzy spell, and managed to stumble all the way to the refresher to get changed without tripping. Then on his way back to the main quarters, he accidentally fell through the door of Ahsoka's empty quarters. He might have pushed over several boxes of Ahsoka's old belongings on his way out, but was too dizzy to pack them.

Soon, he felt a lot better after three huge cups of caff, and was actually able to think straight.

Great! So he was stuck in the past with a galaxy to save, a Sith Lord to defeat and a crazy headache to deal with. How lovely. He would love to bash the Son for sending him into this disaster.

He was prepared to continue dozing off in his kitchen seat when there was a sharp knock on his quarters' door. ' Coming,' He groaned, dragging himself to open the door. Outside, peering at him worriedly, was his former master Obi-wan Kenobi.

' Force, are you drunk, Anakin?' Obi-wan demanded disapprovingly. ' I know you don't have missions, but it just isn't right to get drunk in such troubling times.'

Anakin slurred, going slightly mad from his headache, ' Long time no see, Master! Nice to see that you are actually alive and _not blue_. Good that you are not an Old Man, Master!'

' _Blue? Old?_ ' Obi-wan pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation, knowing that Anakin wasn't actually trying to be rude. ' You really are drunk. Now come with me to the Halls of Healing, so Master Rig Nema could whip up some hangover medicine for you.' He heard that the clones were discussing how the General had been more on edge and growing slightly mad ever since Ahsoka left and as the war dragged on. Unfortunately, those rumours were true.

Anakin edged away from Obi-wan in terror, ' I am not drunk. It's just I have a terrible terrible headache and I really really really need to go to bed.'

' Okay, _sure_ ,' Obi-wan stepped away. ' Go ahead.' Casting one last worried look at his apprentice, he closed the door behind him.

Once he sensed Obi-wan was leaving, Anakin gave another loud groan, stumbled all the way back into his room (still holding his cup) and just threw himself onto the bed with his face buried in the pillow.

* * *

Caleb had the impression that Anakin was unconscious. He was continuously rapping the door of the Knight's quarters for the past half hour (Jedi Masters that were walking down the corridor eyed him weirdly), and there was still no response.

Finally, he remembered that the Knight had a tendency of sleeping until very late hours. But he really, really, really needed to talk to the man before his Master returned from her meeting.

With no further ideas of how to get Anakin's attention (cutting the door down with a lightsaber seemed like a wonderful idea, but Master Windu wouldn't approve), he simply used his final trump card - Climbing through the vents.

Thanks to Ezra's previous teachings, Caleb got to the top of Anakin's vent in just a minute, and jumped down with well practiced ease into the man's bedroom. He noticed with amusement that Anakin was still sleeping, but with his face in the pillow and a cup of caff in his robotic hand.

Seriously, Caleb had no idea why he hadn't suffocated to death yet or why his cup of caff never spilled.

He resorted to grabbing Anakin by the shoulders and shaking him violently. ' Wha- what?' Anakin yelped, standing up.

' Hello. It's me, Caleb,' Caleb grinned cheerfully. ' Your time-travelling pal. Remember me?'

' Yes,' Anakin rubbed his temples. Fortunately, the pain in his head was reduced into a small throb.

' Headache?' Caleb winced slightly. ' Yeah, I got this nasty pain in my head too when I woke up. But it kind of faded after breakfast. Soooo. I guess we are back to the past, right?'

' Yes,' Anakin said glumly. ' I just bumped into Master Kenobi. He isn't blue. Or old.'

' Ohhh, right,' Caleb joked. ' I will have to get used to seeing a non-blue Master Kenobi. And I can't call him Old Man anymore, can I?'

The older man chuckled for a bit, before turning quite serious, ' Now that we are back, we have to be extra careful. I bet the Chancellor would call in to see me soon, and I need to play around for a bit with him.'

' Cool,' Caleb nodded obediently. ' So what do I have to do?'

' I want you to help me monitor what the Council is up to,' Anakin shrugged lightly.

' Me?' Caleb said, astonished. ' What use is the Council stuff to us? And why me?'

' Dunno. Who knows what information will be useful to us now,' Anakin said. ' Besides, your Master is in the high council. It is easy for you to know what is going on within the Council.'

Caleb frowned, ' Why don't you ask Master Kenobi? I thought he belongs to the High Council as well.'

' He'll be suspicious,' Anakin pointed out.

' Fine,' Caleb shuddered. ' That would be so weird.'

 **Looks like things are going according to plan! :D**


	38. Chapter 38

20 BBY

Caleb was just sneakily walking out of Anakin's quarters after their short secret meeting, when he directly bumped into his Master, who was returning to her quarters after the dreadfully boring Council meeting.

He simply stood there, frozen, with a hand on the sliding door, looking as if he was a child caught stealing cookies (well he did like cookies).

' Caleb,' Depa stared at her Padawan and glanced at the door. ' What are you doing at Skywalker's place?'

' Er,' Caleb invented creatively. ' Master Skywalker just invited me for tea and chat. Nothing much.'

Depa raised an eyebrow skeptically, ' Tea and chat? I was never under the impression that you and Anakin Skywalker are friends. What happened?'

' Oh, uh,' Caleb stuttered. ' I used to know his former Padawan, as in, Ahsoka Tano in Politics class. Naturally I know him, but not quite well. So I was rather surprised when he was actually inviting me to talk with him.'

Depa beckoned her Padawn to follow her, and she kept talking, ' Well, I'm just surprised that you know Anakin Skywalker. He's a really fascinating Jedi. Never got to have a true conversation with him though, he's always too busy in war. How is he, by the way? Is he getting by his Padawan's departure?'

' Um, not quite,' Caleb found himself looking at his boots.

' Still upset at the Council? I knew it,' Depa sighed deeply. ' To be honest, I think Ahsoka Tano is an extremely talented Jedi. Never in a million years would I imagine that she would betray us. If I had been present during that dreadful trial, I would have voted for her innocence as well. Alas, we were on a mission on Mon Calamari. By the time the results came through to us, she had already left.'

Caleb bowed his head at this.

Depa continued muttering, ' Skywalker wasn't the only one depressed here. I believe Master Luminara Unduli is rather depressed about this too.'

' Oh yeah,' Caleb nodded gloomily. ' After all, her former Padawan was involved in this entire thing. If my Padawan leaves me or strays down to the Dark Side, I will be as depressed as they are.'

' Ah, so will you be taking a Padawan when you graduate to Knighthood?' Depa smiled brightly.

Caleb blushed, ' Well, of course I would like a Padawan... But I'll only take one if I can even graduate to Knigthood, I mean...'

' Nonsense,' Depa waved off. ' You'll be fine. I trust that you can pass the Trials in a few years time, and then you can take your own Padawan.'

As he walked, Caleb couldn't help but think whether Ezra would somehow show up in his life. If his older self managed to get Ezra as his Padawan, then there should be a fair chance for Ezra to be his Padawan, given that he was somehow recruited.

' Well, I have news for you,' Depa broke the silence with a grin. ' The Council assigned us to a mission.'

' _Finally_ ,' Caleb breathed. ' Wizard! Where? Will there be Separatists?' Oh, he had been waiting for this for so long! Finally! A chance to get off this planet and visit somewhere else.

Depa's smile faded a little, ' Unfortunately, there won't be Separatists this time. We are going to Kamino. Master Yoda has ordered us to retrieve a data chip of clone plans containing the information of the new batch of clones and secret formulas from Nala Se. Sorry, Caleb, but I'm afraid there won't be any duelling involved this time.'

' Awwwwww!' Caleb moaned, disappointed. ' But why ask us to go so far to retrieve that? Surely a band of clones or any Republic officer are capable of doing that.' He had been so looking forward to whip out his lightsaber to cut down some Separatist droids and try out some new Form III Master Kenobi taught him.

' The data chip contains highly confidential Republic information,' Depa said importantly. ' It could affect the future. If it is to fall into the wrong hands, it can potentially destroy us all. So Master Yoda wants Jedi to retrieve it, in order to maximise the security of the information.'

' Fine,' Caleb sulked.

Maybe, just maybe, the mission to Kamino wouldn't be as terrible as he had envisioned.

* * *

' Are you even listening, Anakin?' Obi-wan crossed his arms disapprovingly.

For the past few hours, Anakin stood in front of a giant holotable with Obi-wan Kenobi and the flickering blue holos of Master Tiplar and Master Tiplee, listening to the holo of Master Windu drone on and on about their following mission to the Ringo Vinda, which involved a massive assault on some kind of space station.

Instead of obediently listening to Mace Windu blabber about the extremely boring and long list of plans, protocols and maps, Anakin took the time to ponder over how to solve the 'Tup-malfunctioning-and-accidentally-murder-a-Jedi' problem. If Caleb was working hard to help out, he should, too.

Unfortunately, even though he was trying hard to force an attentive and concentrated look, his glazed expression gave away his thoughts, so Obi-wan could easily notice what he was up to.

' What?' Anakin tilted his head innocently. ' I am listening.'

Windu pursed his lips tightly, and gave Anakin his usual death glare, ' Skywalker, this is an important mission. I expect you to carry it out seriously and in business-mode, even without the help of your _former_ Padawan.'

At this, Anakin really wanted to throw a nasty retort at the guy's face for even daring to speak of his former Padawan, but held back, mostly because Obi-wan was looking at him and wanting to make a good first impression for the twin Jedi Masters.

' My sister and I will try our best to work with Master Skywalker,' Tiplar bowed respectfully.

' Great,' Obi-wan returned to the meeting. ' Then I guess the meeting will end here.'

While Obi-wan was occupied in switching off the holotable, Anakin darted out of the room for dinner, to avoid any questions.

* * *

' A mission to Kamino?' Anakin exclaimed, nearly spraying Caleb with bits of bread. ' Ah sorry.'

Caleb stirred his soup. ' Not exactly the type of mission I intended, but yes, we are going to the Tipoca City, as in the home of the clones. Anything in particular I can do for you up there?'

The two of them were hanging out at the corner of the mess hall, where nobody could be able to hear them talk. But it was a rather curious sight for the 501st clones, who were eating at the far end of the hall, for their General to befriend this clumsy child (' General Skywalker must have gone slightly mad,' Jesse noted).

' Indeed, yes,' Anakin seemed to be deep in thought. ' Remember that chip malfunction Rex told us about? Remember Tup?'

Caleb nodded, his eyes automatically darting to the sea of clones to look for Tup. The said clone was laughing at whatever Fives had just told him.

' Part of our plan is to uncover the chip plot as discreetly as possible, and stop Tup _and_ Fives from dying at the same time,' Anakin spread large amounts of jam and butter on his toast absent-mindedly. ' Also, this is to stop Master Tiplar from being killed as well.'

' I see,' Caleb said sympathetically. ' What do you want to do?'

' That's what I have been thinking about the whole day,' Anakin sighed. ' The only thing I have come up with is to get one of those chips for us to examine, and actually press charges on Palpatine when the time comes.'

Caleb frowned, ' This is quite difficult. We don't even have this type of technology on Coruscant. Even if we ask for it, those Kaminoans won't give it to us. I bet they're traitors. Ah, Rex mentioned that droid which assisted Fives on his discovery. What was its number?'

' It's AZ-3,' Anakin snapped his fingers. ' I know, but now that you told me you are going to Kamino... Maybe...'

The young boy jolted, ' Are you implying...'

' Yes. I want you to smuggle that AZ-3 droid out of Kamino for me,' Anakin said bluntly.

 **Huzzah for the new mission! XD**

 **Here is the 'Me and Star Wars' session as promised...**

 **Teacher: *upon explaining the requirements for our clay crafts project* You are only allowed to use two colours for your project. And I'll choose the colours for you.**

 **Classmate #1: *disappointed*What? I was intending to paint my project with the colours of the _rainbow._**

 **Teacher: Red and white.**

 **Class: WHAT?!**

 **Friend: *gasps***

 **Classmate #1: *in horror* What?! Red and white?!**

 **Classmate #2: Oh goodness the colour choices are terrible!**

 **Classmate #3: Red and white don't even go together!**

 **Classmate #4: Argh, I can't choose! Both are horrible! Seriously, red and white?!**

 **Me: *wails* OH WHAT PAIN! OH THE FEELS!**

 **Classmate #2: Er, what?**

 **Me: *tearfully* red and white! THOSE ARE THE COLOURS OF AHSOKA AND VADER'S LIGHTSABERS! OH, THE DUEL. OH, THE FEELS! OH THE TERROR! OH THE PAIN! OH, THE TWILIGHT OF THE APPRENTICE... OH, THE FINALE.**

 **Friend: Um.**

 **Class: ...**


	39. Chapter 39

It was only when Caleb piloted his fighter to shoot into hyperspace, he started to fret over how his 'nefarious' smuggling plan would work.

The Kamino mission was a very important yet relatively small-scale task, so the Council only assigned a couple clones and Commander Grey to accompany them. And they were only allowed a small Republic fighter each due to lack of transports under war circumstances.

While the entire fleet was in hyperspace, Caleb took the time to ponder over his plan. Without fail, he would be able to stuff that medical droid at the back of his fighter. But the real problem would be... How to smuggle the droid out quietly without being noticed by his Master, clones or any of the Kaminoans? Oh, and would there be security holo cameras in there? It wasn't as easy as he had presumed.

' Caleb,' came his Master's voice through the channel. ' I think we are about to drop out of hyperspace soon. Be ready.'

' Yes Master,' Caleb sat up straight, shaking his head free of any thoughts.

Again, Kamino was raining heavily. But despite the horrible weather, Master Shaak Ti and Nala Se were waiting for them at the hangar bay.

 _Traitor, thanks to you and your fellow Kaminoans, we are at war,_ Caleb thought to himself angrily while glaring at the Kaminoan doctor.

' Home sweet home,' Grey grinned at his brothers, and climbed down his fighter to inspect the surroundings with affection.

' Master Billaba!' Shaak Ti welcomed Depa warmly. ' Welcome! And... This must be your young Padawan!'

' Yes,' Depa nodded and turned to speak with Nala Se. ' I hope the data is ready.'

' Indeed, it is quite ready,' The doctor bowed politely. ' Please come with me to collect it.'

The small group walked down the clean, white corridors, passing many cadets and Kaminoan scientists, and Caleb decided it was time to put his evil plan into action.

' Master,' He tried to put up a pained face. ' Is there a bathroom around here?'

' I guess so,' Depa answered worriedly. ' Is there something wrong?'

' Stomach ache... Must have eaten something funny for lunch,' Caleb gritted his teeth. ' I knew that stew had some kind of problem.'

' Run along,' Depa pushed Caleb on his back. ' Let's rendezvous back at the hangar, we'll wait for you. Doctor, where is the nearest bathroom'

Nala Se pointed out sympathetically, ' I'm afraid the nearest bathroom is quite faraway from here. Just run down the corridors, turn left, right, right, left, right, pass the bridge and third room to the left is the bathroom.'

 _How am I supposed to remember that,_ Caleb raced off (silently relieved that he didn't actually have to go to the bathroom), ignoring the weird looks from the Jedi Masters at the back, and once he was sure his Master couldn't see him anymore, he skidded to a halt in front of a medical ward, nearly knocking into a guard clone.

' Watch where you are going, kid,' The clone growled. ' Run along.'

' Oh, how rude!' Caleb murmured to himself angrily, but he was in a hurry so he didn't stick to chat.

At one juncture, he was pondering over whether to turn right or left, when a small medical droid bobbed out from the nearest medical supplies room. Strange enough, it was hovering above the ground.

' Excuse me,' Caleb poked at the droid to get its attention. ' Do you know a medical droid named AZ-3? Because I am looking for it.'

' Of course I know him,' The droid mused. ' He's me! I'm AZ-3, that's my short name. And who might you be?'

Caleb's eyes widened, not believing his luck, ' Great! How lucky I am! I am Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume, and you have to come with me.'

' Come with you?' AZ-3 quivered. ' Why? Is there a problem with your health? If so, I suggest a good bed rest in the medical ward-'

' No, no,' Caleb tried to explain. ' Clones on Coruscant... They have a... Deadly health problem! So in order to treat them, you must come with me to Coruscant!'

If droids could frown, AZ-3 most definitely was frowning, 'That's horrible! But I think it's against my protocol to leave Kamino. How about transferring your clone friends to here, where they can be looked after?'

' No, they can't be treated here,' Caleb resisted the urge to stomp his foot in frustration. ' They must be treated on Coruscant, because the Kaminoans won't allow it!'

' Won't allow?' AZ-3 asked incredulously. ' What do you mean?'

' There is a huge, evil plot behind this entire thing, but let me just simplify it for you,' Caleb sighed dramatically. ' The Kaminoans won't treat that disease. They would leave them to die!'

' But the protocol-'

' Hey, I thought the first priority of your program is to help people,' Caleb recalled. ' You are built to save people, is that right? So, what's more important: Your Kamino protocols, or healing people?'

A debate was raging through AZ-3's program. ' You are right,' it agreed at last. ' It is against my programming not to help people. I will come with you to Coruscant then. You do have the correct medical supplies back there, don't you?'

' Splendid,' Caleb rubbed his hands with glee. ' Of course, yes. Though you must not be seen by any of my companions.'

' Why?'

' Because, er, they won't let you heal the disease!' Caleb invented.

AZ-3 jerked suddenly, as if yanked by strings, ' That's horrible! No, I won't let them find out! How about that, to ensure you can bring me back, I suggest you switch me off for the time being.'

' Really?' Caleb said worriedly. ' But won't they find out? You know, I bet they have some hidden security cams around here...'

' No,' AZ-3 assured him. ' There aren't. Come on. Switch me off.' Caleb pressed a small button on the back of the droid, and it immediately went off, nearly dropping to the ground, but the young Padawan used the Force to hold it still.

Then, he paused for a moment before running off.

He would look extremely suspicious if he were to cradle an 'unconscious' medical droid in his arms. So in the end, he decided to set the droid in the air, continued walking, and dragged the droid in the air using the Force.

So he marched past groups and groups of clone cadets naturally, until he finally reached the hangar bay. He crouched behind cargo ships and dodged patrolling clone troopers, spotted out his fighter, and immediately threw the droid in.

On the other side, his Master and the other clones were waiting. ' Hey, sorry for being so late,' Caleb rushed over to meet them, forcing an innocent grin. ' Feel lots better right now. So do you have the chip?'

' Yes,' Depa nodded. ' I'm glad you are feeling better. Do you wish for any medical attention?' Caleb shook his head quickly. ' If not, we'll be going back to Coruscant right away. I bet Master Yoda is anxious for the information.'

He boarded his fighter without another word, turning off the engines and along with the other Republic fighters, shot off into the Kaminoan skyline.

* * *

Caleb waited until his Master was off to report to the Council, before racing off like wind to find Anakin.

He knocked on the door impatiently, and the man's door had barely opened when Caleb seized him and pulled him out of the room.

' What-' Anakin shrieked in surprise.

' I got the droid,' Caleb said breathlessly. ' Come with me.'

Back at the hangar, Caleb switched on AZ-3 for Anakin. ' Oh,' AZ-3 shook its robotic head. ' Right. So are we on Coruscant?'

' Yes, we are,' Caleb said. ' And this is Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.'

' Great,' Anakin nodded approvingly at the droid. ' We got AZ-3. The next thing is, we need to get ourselves some inhibitor chips. We need the information in it.'

' Wait,' Caleb frowned. ' That means... We need to... But that means we need a clone to help us. Which also means... We'll need to tell that clone everything. Like, everything.'

' Yeah, and I know the right man for the job,' Anakin winked. ' Our dear Captain Rex.'

 **Hmm... Good luck in that Anakin. XD**

 **Now, I'm just wondering. Should each chapter be slightly longer, as in around 1800 words? Because I feel like each chapter is too short. XD Please review to give feedback about this. Thanks! :D**


	40. Chapter 40

**Hello... It's me... *back from camp huzzah***

' Captain Rex, I want a word.'

Rex looked up from his daily reading. He was actually surprised that the General would seek him out in 'non-mission' hours at the clone dorms, especially when all the other men were away for their monthly party at 79's. Kix and Fives tried to persuade him to tag along, but he preferred staying in the dorms quietly, so he sent them away.

' What is it, General Skywalker?' He placed aside his beloved data pad. ' Is it about the Ringo Vinda mission? Our men are ready to go, Sir, and-'

' No, it is not about the mission,' Anakin said importantly. ' There is something else I need to talk to you about. It's top secret, okay? It can affect the future of the Jedi and the Republic. I trust that you would not reveal this information to anyone.'

Rex swallowed nervously, ' Er, Sir, I promise I won't. But what is it?'

' Good,' Anakin closed his eyes. ' This may be a lot to swallow... But... The Chancellor is in league with the Separatists. He is the Sith Lord.'

' _What?'_ Rex gasped out loud, staring at his General in shock. The other clones were secretly talking about how Skywalker was going mad from the war and the loss of the Commander, but he simply waved the rumours off. He was almost as upset as he was. Now, Rex was quite sure that the General was indeed delirious and going crazy. Time to accept those rumours.

' I'm not crazy!' Anakin claimed. ' It's true!'

There was a mad debate in Rex's mind on whether to send his crazy General to the medical ward, but nonetheless, he said uncertainly, ' This is a serious accusation, Sir. Why so?'

' That, is not the main point,' Anakin said impatiently. ' The real problem here is...' He spoke quickly of the entire Order 66 chip plot, the possible Purge of the Jedi, possible malfunctioning of Tup's chip to the wide-eyed clone captain. Seriously. Everything sounded too abstract that Rex had no idea what to believe in anymore.

' Well, that's...' Rex stuttered, aghast. ' So you are actually meaning to say... There is a controlling chip in my head... And when triggered... Would cause me to murder Jedi?'

' Yup,' Anakin nodded. ' That's correct.'

' But... How... Would you know that's true or not?' Rex asked, hoping with all his might that this entire story was just made up in Anakin's head. Or maybe General Kenobi would just pop out of nowhere and scream, ' April Fools! Haha!' But this was highly unlikely, as the General, for once, actually looked business-like.

' There is a way to find out,' Anakin commented lightly. ' But only if you are _willing_ to take the risks.'

' What risks?' Rex asked warily, interested to know the truth at the same time.

* * *

In half an hour, Rex was seated on a medical bed, waiting for AZ-3 to conduct the operation. Caleb had secretly booked one of the medical rooms in the clone barracks, and locked it down once Anakin, AZ-3 and Rex got in.

' I was told you have a deadly disease,' AZ-3 said anxiously. ' Let me conduct your brain scanning immediately.'

Rex's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

' Oh, go ahead,' Caleb said generously.

' Umm, Sir?' Rex fretted. ' Whatever you are doing to me, please try not to kill me in the process.'

' You won't die,' Anakin said. ' Please proceed, doctor.'

AZ-3 injected a sedation chemical into Rex's neck, and the clone captain simply went unconscious on the spot. They still had to carry out the scanning in order to have the exact location of the chip.

The droid skilfully stuck Rex into the scanner, and started studying the pictures taken from the machine. ' Oh,' it said. ' There is a tumour, just in his head.'

' Yep,' Anakin flexed his fingers. ' That's it.'

' I'll have to remove it,' AZ-3 ignored Anakin. ' That could be dangerous and harmful to the body. Do you wish to continue this delicate operation?'

' Um yes please,' Caleb nodded stiffly, looking in horror at the photos. There really was an inhibitor chip.

' Then, I suggest you look away,' AZ-3 continued, holding out a bunch of sharp and dangerous looking equipments.

Anakin and Caleb averted their eyes, and tried not to cringe when there was a whirring sound, indicating that the medical droid was working.

' There, all done,' AZ-3 said cheerfully, ' you can look now.' Anakin slowly looked at the droid, and it was clutching a single inhibitor chip, which was a very thin and tiny block.

' I'll take it,' Anakin plucked the inhibitor chip gingerly from AZ-3's grip. ' Will Rex, I mean, the patient be okay?'

' Oh yes,' AZ-3 pointed at Rex, who was still unconscious on the bed, with a rather large bandage on the side of his head. ' But I had to shave his hair in order to remove that chip, if that is okay with him. And the wound might scar.'

Anakin stifled a laugh. True, Rex was bald right now. ' That'll require explaining,' Caleb smiled, amused. ' But Rex will manage it.'

* * *

Caleb followed Anakin back to his quarters, anxious to investigate the information in the chip.

They had left Rex at the dorms after he woke up, and the captain was rather confused and disoriented when he found out his hair was gone. Anakin had patted the man on the shoulder kindly, muttered 'thanks' and just walked away with the chip.

' There,' Anakin plugged the chip into his computer. ' We'll try to retrieve the information here.' However, tons of messages popped up once they tried to access it. And Caleb, who knew a little about computing, understood the chip was heavily protected with boundaries.

Frustrated, Anakin cursed, ' Blast! The files are protected. Can't get in.'

' We can't access them unless we hack into it,' Caleb commented. ' You know how to hack, right?'

' No,' Anakin shook his head.

' What?' Caleb said. ' I thought... You know how to do programming and stuff!'

' Robot programming,' Anakin corrected. ' Hacking is not exactly my specialty. But it has always been Ahsoka's specialty.' Caleb agreed wholeheartedly. The future Ahsoka had been so skilled in programming and hacking, that she was able to hack into almost all Imperial records and steal information. The only time she wasn't able to hack into Imperial records was when the Emperor declared that he wanted the most security on the Death Star plans. The Alliance resorted to sending a group of skilled Rebels to get it.

' Oh man,' Caleb face-palmed. ' How in the Force would we crack open this?'

' No idea, but for the time being,' Anakin tossed the chip to Caleb. ' I suggest you keep this safe, and wait until I have come up with something. Okay? Keep it safe.'

Caleb nodded and stuffed the chip down his tunic pocket. However, unknown to Anakin, Caleb had another marvellous plan up his sleeve.

* * *

Credits were jingling merrily in Caleb's pockets, as he marched excitedly off to the bakery to get himself a large batch of cookies. Preferably in a nice big jar. Maybe he'd even buy some for Anakin as well, just to be generous ( _' Nah, I might just eat them all later, no one will know'_ ).

In a couple minutes, he was clutching a huge bag of cookies, feeling extremely contented, and prepared to walk back home. However, there was a minor tremor in the Force, very near him. He spun around on his heels, detecting the Force presence once again with all his might.

A Force signature, belonging to a Force-user. It was so familiar that it was almost freaky. But who? Instantly, he spotted a cloaked figure dashing past the corner, like a blur.

If Master Billaba were here, she would be most displeased. He allowed his instincts to guide him (deliberately ignoring the rules about not wondering on the streets), and automatically, his legs dragged him all the way, following the person around the maze-like under streets of Coruscant, faraway from the Jedi Temple, to some kind of residential area, that surprisingly looked nice.

His hunt stopped when the figure hopped into a residential building and disappeared. Caleb followed suit, and entered the lobby of the building, only to be stopped by the security guard - a burly and surly (' _Oh hey it rhymes'_ ) Rodian, who was thrice Caleb's size. Despite the fact he was a Jedi and was armed with a deadly lightsaber, he couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by the towering guard.

' Stop right here kid,' He growled menacingly. ' You don't seem familiar. I advise you go away now.'

Though he was kind of terrified, he thought, _aha, time to put Master Kenobi's wonderful Mind Trick class to use._

He waved his hand mysteriously in front of the guard, and to top it off, he said in a perfect imitation of Obi-wan's accent, ' You _will_ let me pass.'

For half a second, he was almost worried that it wouldn't work. But then, he watched as the guard's eyes go glazed all over, and he slurred, ' I... I will let you pass.'

' And you _will_ tell me who just passed by,' Caleb said.

' I will tell you who just passed by,' The Rodian looked as if he was drunk. ' It's a Togrutan girl... Former Jedi or something... Has been living here for quite some while...'

Caleb's heart did a somersault. He couldn't believe his luck. ' And... you shall tell me which flat she lives in as well.'

' Floor 2, room C,' He murmured.

' Great! Thank you very much!' Caleb put down his hand cheerfully, tossed the guard a credit, and hopped up the lift.

Quickly, he made his way to Room C on Floor 2, and knocked on the door carefully.

' Who's there?' A girl's voice hollered, and the door swung open to reveal the teenaged Ahsoka Tano.

She had taken off her cloak, and was actually wearing a set of clothes that resembled her old Jedi uniform.

' Uh, hi,' Caleb smiled rather awkwardly. ' Um, I'm Caleb Dume, a Jedi Padawan.'

Ahsoka's sunny smile was replaced with a stony look. ' Look,' She said coldly. ' Tell them I have nothing to do with the Jedi Order, okay? Stop bothering me. Bye.' She tried to shut the door in Caleb's face, but he held the door still using the Force.

Panicking, he rambled while seizing the door with his hand , ' No, no! Don't! I need your help! It's your Master- No, Anakin Skywalker!'

Caleb almost marvelled how quick her expression changed within milliseconds if it weren't for the rather gloomy atmosphere. Shock, hurt and worry flashed past her face in a blur, and she demanded, ' What? Is he in danger or something? Tell me now!'

' I'd prefer not to talk about this outside,' Caleb looked around him anxiously. ' Can't let anyone overhear this.'

Ahsoka looked down at her boots and sighed, ' Come in then.'

 **Helloooooooooo! :D I'm baaaaaaack.**


	41. Chapter 41

The interior of Ahsoka's apartment was more cosy and nice looking compared to the dark and gloomy corridors. Caleb gave the place a quick scan before getting seated at the soft sofa. There were a small bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen and a sitting parlour with a computer at the corner, as usual.

' Nice digs,' Caleb commented, admiring the place.

' Thanks,' Ahsoka muttered, and now that they were bathed in sufficient light, she squinted at him, ' Now that you said you are a Jedi, you sure do look a bit familiar. Who is your Master?'

' Master Depa Billaba,' Caleb answered, injecting as much pride as possible to his words.

Ahsoka pondered for a small moment before saying, ' Ah, I see. Master Depa Billaba on the high Council, I believe. That means I must have walked past you for so many times in the Temple without knowing. By the way, would you like some tea?' Without waiting for a response, she disappeared into the kitchen and within a couple seconds, walked out with a tray.

' How long have you been living here?' Caleb looked around curiously.

' Not for long,' Ahsoka said, her hands working fast over the cups and saucers. ' I was living on Shili for a couple months, but then Togrutan civilian life didn't really suit me that well... All those hunting habits aren't just for me, since I have been away from the pack for too long. So I'm back.'

' Ah. Though have you been working?' Caleb nodded sympathetically, and politely accepted a steaming cup of tea from Ahsoka. He had never tasted anything like that. It was some kind of tea with native Shili spices, and he enjoyed it immensely. The taste gave him a surge of energy.

' A few part-time jobs,' Ahsoka shrugged. ' I'm now working as a waitress at a small restaurant. It's a nice job, really. And the salary is enough for me to buy food, clothes and rent an apartment. So... What's wrong with Anakin?'

Then, She sat down into the chair in front of the computer, her face grim. ' Is he hurt? Is anyone hurt? Or did something happen to Obi-wan? What about Rex? And the other men?'

' It kind of concerns them as well,' Caleb decided not to explain first, and simply reached into his pocket (almost grabbing a credit by mistake) to drop the small inhibitor chip into Ahsoka's palm.

She raised an eye marking curiously, ' Is this an inhibitor chip? What do I have to do with it?'

' I need you to hack into it,' Caleb simply said. ' Look at the information yourself. And you'll see. Meanwhile, I shall enjoy my cookies.'

Still surprised, Ahsoka whirled back to stick the chip into her computer terminal. With a couple 'hmm's and 'huh's of contemplations, she murmured, ' Well, I have to say the information is highly protected with programming.' She spoke of a bunch of programming words that sounded like gibberish to Caleb.

' So... Can you crack it?' Caleb pulled out some cookies.

' Of course,' Ahsoka typed something onto her keyboard. ' Easy for me. I've seen worse. But it'll take time. Oh, what fun!'

Then, Caleb watched as the girl set to work with great enthusiasm, furiously tapping commands and programs and muttering to herself at the same time. Her computer screen was flashing like crazy.

Caleb was on his tenth cookie when Ahsoka clapped with glee, ' Aha! Got it!' Then, he waited, in silence as Ahsoka carefully read the contents in the chip. He could feel the terror radiating off the girl even without using the Force.

At long last, there was a small click, almost inaudible, when Ahsoka removed the chip from her computer. Holding it between two fingers, she walked to face Caleb, her face ashy grey in horror. ' Where... Did you get this?' She croaked.

Caleb bowed his head, ' From a clone's head.'

' I saw horrible things,' Ahsoka whispered. ' Most horrible things. What... an order... To kill all Jedi... Is it true?'

' Unfortunately it is,' Caleb sighed. ' Your Master and I recently found out these chips in clones' heads. Once triggered, the Jedi could be in a great trouble.'

' But... Who put them in there?' Ahsoka wanted to vomit, too aghast. ' It can't be the Separatists! How did they get hold of the men?'

' Worse,' Caleb deadpanned. ' But I can't reveal more to you, until we have an idea of what we are going to do. Thanks for your help, Ahsoka. Anakin will really appreciate it. I gotta go now, or else Master Windu would spot me wondering around and make me write lines again.'

But before he stepped outside, he asked, ' Ahsoka, would you like to see your Master or other Jedi friends? I could arrange it for you.'

She hesitated. And said, ' Not yet. I'm still not sure whether I am ready to take it.' Then, sensing Caleb's disappointment, Ahsoka nodded towards the inhibitor chip in Caleb's fist, ' I've cracked all the protection codes apart, so you won't need to do anything to it once you return. You can just stick it in the computer and view the information freely. Though I do suggest a personal passcode lock on the file if you wish for it to be well-protected. I'm quite sure Anakin will know how to make one.'

When he made his way out, Ahsoka called out, ' Wait! Um, if you happen to see my Master... Just help me say hi or something. And sorry I can't see him yet.'

' Sure,' Caleb nodded. ' I will.'

' And... One more thing. You forgot to take your cookies.'

* * *

' There you go,' Caleb tossed the inhibitor chip and a small packet of cookies at Anakin generously.

' What?' Anakin balanced the cookies and the chip between his hands in surprise, nearly dropping them. ' I told you to keep the chip until I manage to find a way to hack into the codes!'

' I know,' Caleb bounced on the meditation cushions cheerfully. ' But the codes are cracked now!'

With disbelief, Anakin stuck the chip into his computer, scrolled through the files in delight and shouted, ' How did you do that? Did you hack into it?'

' No, of course not!' Caleb said. ' Besides, I don't think Madam Jocasta would want me near a computer anymore, since that lightsaber fiasco.' It was one of the most embarrassing events in his life. One time when he was trying to finish his programming homework, he accidentally deleted the file after working on it for five hours. He was so angry that he almost whipped out his lightsaber to destroy the computer, but was stopped by nearby Padawans before that could happen. As a result, Madam Jocasta made him recite on the Jedi Code for twenty times, talked to him severely about not vandalising archive equipments, and to add insult to injury, the other Padawans kept flashing him scandalised looks.

Anakin peered at him suspiciously,' You did what?'

' Nah, you wouldn't want to know. As a matter of fact, I got help from you amazing Padawan,' Caleb squealed.

' WHAT?' Anakin jolted, as if electrocuted. ' You... Did what?'

' Yay,' Caleb wiggled his eyebrows. ' Yay for me. Who's your friend?'

' No way,' Anakin looked as if he was about to faint.

' Come on,' Caleb jumped on the cushions cheerfully. ' Be happy! I actually did you a favour! And by the way, Ahsoka says hi.'

Anakin anxiously asked Caleb an overwhelming truckload of questions about Ahsoka, whether she was happy, how was her living environment and whether she mentioned the Jedi. Caleb was happy to oblige and answered one by one.

He seemed satisfied, though was quite disappointed when Caleb told him she wasn't ready to see him again, and said, ' Well... Regardless, I'm so glad you found her. That's one more step to success.'

' Indeed,' The young Padawan agreed excitedly. ' So, I guess you will be setting off for Ringo Vinda next week? Is there something I can do for the time being, such as stealing a bacta tank or buying a large rancor?'

' Don't do anything stupid,' Anakin's eyes flashed dangerously. ' And no, I have said that for so many times, no rancors in the Jedi Temple! Just be a good Padawan, study, learn, do your Language homework, and wait until I get back. Then, I'll brief you on the future plans'

Caleb relented, ' Fiiiiine.'

' And one more thing. Stop stepping on my cushions. You are dirtying them.'

 **Yay for Caleb and Ahsoka! Did you notice that Caleb nearly pulled a Kylo Ren move at the computers? XD**

 **Okay, so one minor note on some of my really silly mistakes. One of you reviewed and told me that some information was contradicting with previous information I wrote, and I'm sorry about that :( I tend to have a bit (nah, SERIOUS, as in very SERIOUS) of memory problems, so yes, this sounds ridiculous, but I may sometimes forget about what I wrote before. :/ Thanks a lot to whoever it is for the reminder, I honestly really appreciate it, and sorry for any confusion while reading. :D Though feel free and don't hesitate to point out mistakes if you can spot one, and I'll try to correct them. Anyways... Thanks again! :)**

 **And no. I haven't forgotten about this... Here we go:**

 **Camp Instructor: (to a teammate and I, who happened to be the people in charge for the activity) *explaining how the night mountain hike works* You two should station at the back of the group when they hike.**

 **Teammate: *terrified* WHAAT? But... I'm scared of the dark! Why? What for?**

 **Camp Instructor: Well... Someone's gotta watch their backs.**

 **Teammate: Oh, okay, I guess...**

 **Me: *a flurry of clone wars quotes passing through my head, e.g. ' _If I'm not with you, who else will have your back?', ' Somebody's got to watch my back'_ * OHHHHH THE FEELS... WHYYYYYYY... AHSOKA AND ANAKIN, WHYYY... THE FEELS...**

 **Camp Instructor: Is there something wrong with the arrangement...?**

 **Teammate: Just ignore her. She's emotional.**


	42. Chapter 42

**A chapter in which Anakin _tries_ to convince the 501st that he is not crazy and Caleb goes on a trip. **

Anakin did his part before going off to Ringo Vinda with his men. He thought of making Tup stay on Coruscant, but figured out it wouldn't help much, because it would be equally problematic if Tup was to go on a Jedi killing rampage on Coruscant. In order to properly eradicate the problem off the face of Coruscant, he would have to remove Tup's chip. And there was no way he could do that without startling the entire battalion.

So just three days before their deployment, he decisively announced Order 66 to the men with such a solemn look that the men were almost surprised at the beginning of his speech. Though he tried to lessen the complication by lying that Palpatine was under the influence of a Sith Lord.

But as his explanation dragged on, understanding started to hit home, and the men were beginning to bend over in horror at what the General was actually telling them.

However, the message sounded so ridiculous and surreal that Anakin might as well convince them he was a galactic class Cantina singer (the General sang as beautifully as he cooked, Rex had noted with dread at a particularly disastrous GAR Life Day singing contest). Even Jesse had to double-check if it was actually April Fool's Day.

Once he was done, all the men could do was blabber endlessly. ' Er' was probably the most intelligent thing Fives could come up after a long moment of being trapped in a drunken stupor.

' So,' Appo raised his hand uncertainly. ' Are you meaning to tell us we are Jedi killers, Sir?'

' Not if you remove your chips,' Anakin cheerfully pointed at the side of the door, where Caleb was already waiting with AZ-3 at the ready. ' Okie dokie! Who's first?'

The men muttered amongst themselves.

' _The General is mad,_ this is not a good sign. Someone grab the medic,' Kix whispered to Coric, too stunned to remember that he was actually the medic.

' You _are_ the medic,' Jesse pointed out.

' Oh, right,' Kix flushed, extremely embarrassed. ' I am the medic.'

Rex sighed in a resigned voice, ' I went through the same phases. But I guess the General's right. There really is this controlling chip inside my head. '

' Ha, so you knew!' Tup shrieked. ' And you didn't even think of telling us?'

' Sooo that's why you shaved your hair!' Fives added triumphantly. ' Ha! Kamino fashion, indeed!' Rex had been trying to convince them that his hairstyle change was because of some new Kamino fashion. Most were skeptical about it. But well, most Kaminoans didn't have hair, so they were too wise to speak in case Rex tried to kill them.

Caleb called out to Anakin, ' Looks like your men don't believe in you.' With a snap of his fingers, R2 rolled in, came to a stop in front of Anakin and allowed him to insert the inhibitor chip in his terminal.

' Read that for yourselves,' Anakin displayed a bluish hologram of the contents. ' This is from the chip off Rex's head.'

' In the events of Jedi officers...' Rex read the Order out loud for the others to hear, and his reading pace became slower and slower until he reached the end. '... established.'

The men murmured amongst themselves in disgust and horror, the contents of the Order ringing in their heads like a chant.

' No way. Would this mean... that we are programmed to kill Jedi?'

' This is impossible... We would never... A Sith Lord did that?'

' Blast! There really are Sith Lords?'

' How could we do that?'

' I guess we really are programmed like droids,' Jesse said dejectedly to his brothers. ' The entire reason of our existence... Is actually to murder Jedi. I thought... We could have a mind of our own after the war.'

' You could have a mind of your own,' Anakin encouraged. 'if you remove the chips. It's not just for the lives of the Jedi or the Republic... You all are not just my men, but you are also my friends, brothers in arms, whatever. I wish that you could all have freedom after the war, and not live like a droid. Is anyone with me?'

Rex's Captain mode kicked in just in time, ' The General is right. We are not droids. We are men. Also, we won't betray the Jedi, after what they have done for you and I. We will remove those idiotic chips from our heads, and not be controlled by any Sith Lord. We will be doing this in honour of General Skywalker, or Commander Tano, even if she is not with us. Am I right?'

Genuine consent rippled through the crowd, and the 501st yelled out in unison, ' Sir yes sir!'

' Boy, Commander Tano will be proud of us,' Fives grinned and the others agreed.

' Is everyone ready, then?'

' Sir yes sir!'

' Though Sir,' Coric raised his hand. ' Won't the others suspect when they find out we are all bald?'

' Hey, relax. No one will care,' Appo said jokingly ' And besides that, we will be wearing our helmets for the rest of the time in the war. Even if Cody asks, we'll just say it is, er, some kind of Kaminoan fashion. No offence intended.' He nodded towards Rex.

' Uh, Master Skywalker?' Caleb tried to poke at Anakin when he didn't response to him. ' Master Skywalker? Are you still in here?'

' Ah right,' Anakin was trying to blink back tears. Boy, he was touched by his men's spirit! ' I think we will start with Tup. You are ready, right? If so, please follow Padawan Dume.'

' Yes Sir,' Tup glanced at his brothers with a fearful look and followed Caleb and AZ-3 out to the small medical room.

* * *

' Tup? Mr. Tup? Can you hear me?'

' Yes Sir,' Tup groaned, his voice thick from being unconscious. And he felt different. Very different. It was like a burden, which he didn't realise he was carrying around, had vanished forever.

' You can sit up now,' AZ-3 pressed a button, so as to allow Tup to sit up.

' The chip,' Tup looked around anxiously. ' Is it here? Is it out?'

AZ-3 held a small, glittering chip in its claw, ' Oh yes, it is here. It was a successful extraction. Would you like to keep your own chip?'

Tup resisted the urge to vomit in disgust at the sight of the supposedly evil controlling chip, ' Eurgh, no thank you. You can keep it.'

' Oh, okay,' AZ-3 said blankly, and tossed the chip into a box. ' In that case, you are ready to go. You can remove the bandage after half a day, and if it hurts, remember to apply some bacta paste onto it. It will speed up the healing.'

' Yes, and also send in Kix,' Caleb read off his data pad. ' He's next on the list, I believe.'

Once Tup returned to the dorm room (just Anakin escorted Kix to walk out), he was immediately bombarded with questions from his brothers.

' Tup, boy, how do you feel?' Hawk pressed on urgently.

' Different,' Tup answered.

' Different?' Jesse said. ' Good different or bad different?'

' Good,' He stated. ' Definitely good. It's like... I feel lighter. A lot lighter.' He never felt that carefree before.

Maybe, they could get to live like really people, someday.

* * *

Caleb was bored out of his mind.

Anakin and his men had been off to Ringo Vinda with fresh, happy minds for a couple days. Though before he left, Anakin warned him grimly not to do anything rash (aka stealing a bacta tank or buying a rancor), and Caleb tried, honestly, he tried to comply.

But no one could blame him for being bored. Seriously, he tried to keep up to date with wartime news on the holoTV everyday, but there was no news. To his anger, the reporter of the midnight news only gave a brief statement of the war in 10 seconds, and zoomed to the horrible Sy Snootles music show. He fought the urge to destroy the machine.

He was so bored that he zoomed down streets of Coruscant to Ahsoka's apartment and begged her to teach him how to hack. She happily agreed.

Then, on the fourth day of Anakin's departure he could take it no more. He had to go on a mission.

An amazing mission of sneaking into the Chancellor's suite.

In order to prepare for this dangerous mission, he checked, checked and checked with his holopad while Master Palmer wasn't looking for Senate meeting hours. Aha. There was one Senate meeting at 3pm, just after his Politics class.

So once he dropped off Politics class and said goodbye to his fellow Padawans, he dashed, with one arm holding his supplies bag, to where the speeders were parked, and hopped on a random one to race all the way to the Senate building.

Not wanting to be spotted by anyone, he skilfully hopped into the vents at the bottom floor while no one was looking, and slipped past the two ignorant guards, onto the top of the Chancellor's luxurious suite. Seriously. He had expected the Chancellor's Suite to be more well-guarded, but there was only this tiny lock around a single bar of the vent.

With a contemptuous 'humph', Caleb gave his lightsaber a single sweep to destroy the lock and triumphantly dropped... Into the Chancellor's luxurious bathroom. He yelped, disgusted by the cloying smell of bath oils and rich perfumes, stumbled out of the bathroom.

It didn't take him long to spot the Chancellor's (Palps) computer. Immediately, he turned it on, hacked into the system with well practiced ease (bet Palps didn't expect anyone to hack into his stuff, take that, ha!) and downloaded all the files into a tiny chip, let it be elaborate plans to conquer the universe, or the next boring Senate speech.

Second, he raced over to view the past conversations on Palpatine's comlink. He watched on, in mounting terror, and in they went, into his chip.

He dodged into the vent once again, and this time, made his way to the security room, where he 'mind-tricked' the guards (fortunately it worked beautifully), and deleted all holorecords in the Chancellor's suite that had him starring in it.

Feeling rather satisfied with himself, he returned, his bag filled with evidence and information, back to the Temple to finish his Politics essay.

 **Who knew Caleb's going to visit the Chancellor's suite? ;)**

 **Whoohoo it's May the 4th tomorrow! :D**


	43. Chapter 43

**BELATED... BUT...**

 **MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU! XD**

 **I wanted to upload this on May the fourth, but unfortunately, electricity was down in my building, and I had no access to the internet :(**

 **A chapter... In which... I crammed all the other Season 6 events... And ROTS will begin at the end. XD**

Caleb danced casually down the corridors, feeling extremely relaxed now that he had finally handed in his very important Politics essay.

Also, just the day before, the Holonet finally reported on the news of Anakin's victory of Ringo Vinda. ' Good news for the Republic!' The Twi'lek reporter had beamed. ' Our favourite Hero with No Fear has achieved victory over Ringo Vinda, with the help of esteemed Masters Tiplar and Tiplee. With the help of these trusty heroes, I believe the war can end soon.'

He had shrieked in delight, nearly threw the entire bowl of popcorn into his Master's face, and did a happy dance in the middle of the living room, much to Depa's bewilderment.

So now, he was waiting for the return of his favourite Jedi Knight friend.

Judging from the number of familiar blue-armoured clones walking freely past him (a few recognised him and actually waved cheerfully at him), he knew that Anakin was back.

Still, when Rex walked past, he called out, ' Good Captain Rex! Is your General back?'

' Why yes, Padawan,' Rex answered. ' Last I saw General Skywalker, he was walking out of the hangar. I guess, he should be back in his quarters by now.'

At this, Caleb sped down the corridors back to his quarters, not caring if he had actually flung several Padawans out of the way. He threw his book bag onto his bed and snatched his secret 'evidence' bag using the Force, and ran of in full speed to Anakin's quarters. Though it was rather impolite for him to do that, he slid open Anakin's door without knocking.

And there he was, standing in the middle of the living room, looking surprised as if he was caught in a crime. Anakin was holding a bag of cheese flavoured chips, and had even got an apple stuck between his teeth.

' _Hello there,'_ Caleb mimicked Obi-wan's favourite line.

' Oh, hey,' Anakin tiredly removed the apple from his mouth and set it on the table. It was quite obvious that he didn't get sufficient rest throughout the entire battle.

' I believe you should see this,' Caleb handed his beloved data chip to him.

Anakin groaned, ' Can this wait? I'm _tired and hungry_.'

' That can wait,' Caleb said.

' But I need some beauty sleep before going off to give the Council my _lovely_ report,' Anakin rolled his eyes. ' Surely you don't want me to make a fool of myself in front of the great Master Windu?' One could simply hear the sarcasm oozing behind his words.

' Speaking of Master Windu...' Caleb gave Anakin such a glare, which was shockingly similar to his Grand-Master's (there was this running tradition of calling one's Master's Master a Grand-Master).

Anakin seemed to shrivel on the spot at the glare, ' Fine... Fine...' And he received the chip with his mechanical hand and stuffed it into his computer terminal. He had barely scrolled through the contents, when his eyes widened at an alarming rate and bellowed, ' WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?'

' Oh, the Galactic market,' Caleb said jokingly, but under Anakin's murderous stare, he admitted, ' straight from the Chancellor's office.'

Anakin closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, muttered the Jedi Code under his breath for several times, before exploding in rage, ' I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO ANYTHING WHILE I AM AWAY! AND LOOK! YOU ARE DISOBEYING MY ORDERS! YOU COULD HAVE DIED, YOU KNOW! SIDIOUS COULD HAVE CAUGHT YOU! HIS GUARDS COULD HAVE ARRESTED YOU! AND... WAIT TILL HE LOOKS AT THE SECURITY HOLOS AND FIND OUT-'

' Nah, I erased the contents on the security cams.'

' Still!' The Knight hollered. ' That's dangerous and stupid!'

' Force, I see why Ahsoka thinks you are too over-protective,' Caleb said, feeling very, very, very sorry for the girl. ' I am a Padawan already. I'm okay with going on missions like that. I can think for myself.'

' Yeah! But that doesn't mean you could disobey orders and do rash things,' Anakin seethed. ' You are just like Ahsoka!'

Caleb wasn't annoyed, which was a good thing, but he smiled triumphantly, ' Well, Older-me and Older-Ahsoka could disobey orders, doing rash stuff etc etc etc. But that's exactly why we can survive the Empire's regimes! We are not afraid of disobeying the Emperor Palp or do rash things in order to save the Rebel Alliance. It's not as terrible as you think.'

Once more, Anakin relented, ' Fine. You win. But you must not do anything like that next time without my permission, okay?'

' Okay,' Caleb promised merrily. ' May I have the chip?'

Anakin pulled the data chip and handed it to him.

' Thanks, but actually, I mean the edible one,' Caleb nodded towards the bag of chips on the table.

' Go ahead and take it,' Anakin said wearily. ' I'm going to bed right now. And come back tomorrow, we will talk about our next plan.'

However, their brilliant master plan was put to a stop when Anakin had to go on Scipio to rescue his secret wife. Caleb had no idea what the entire mission was about, just that he heard from rumours (he had a lot of free time running around, as Master Billaba was sent off to some kind of dangerous Outer Rim planet for a top-secret solo mission), it was about Banking Clan, Senator Amidala, Banking Clan, Senator Amidala, Banking Clan, Senator Amidala and a guy called Rush Clovis.

Ah, Rush Clovis.

The source of Caleb's pain and misery. And also his many headaches.

Shortly after Anakin got off Coruscant with Clovis and his wife, he called Caleb via comlink and ranted furiously about Clovis. In the midst of his angry tale, Caleb finally got hold of what exactly was going on.

Apparently, Clovis had developed a romantic interest on Senator Amidala, and Anakin, being the fiery guy he was, became extremely jealous about it. Also, he regarded Clovis as a traitor, and was disgruntled with his wife working next to that man.

Caleb tried his best to calm Anakin down, muttered some soothing words, and switched off his com (wiping sweat from his forehead). He learnt that: Attachments are good, but sometimes it is really troublesome.

And he was right.

He thought he had seen the worst of this matter, but he was quite mistaken. Just a few hours after that comlink call, Anakin came blundering into his quarters, looking very upset, hurt and angry all at the same time. Caleb was almost terrified of whether the man would suddenly transform into a Sith Lord.

' Humour me,' Caleb sighed, allowing him to come in and poured out what little tea he had left in his cupboard. ' did something happen to Rush Clovis _again_?'

Anakin simply growled in response.

' Ah, I know. Did you upset your wife?'

' Worse,' Anakin groaned. ' She didn't want to see me anymore. Because of that Clovis guy...'

' I see,' Caleb deadpanned. ' I guess you should just leave him alone for the time being. If you continue to go after him like crazy, Senator Amidala would just be even more upset.'

Anakin yelped, ' Leave him alone? You do realise he is a traitor, don't you? Leaving him alone with Padme is a terrible, terrible idea! And now she's angry at me, just because of Clovis-'

' Calm down,' Caleb said.

Anakin grunted and stood up, ' I don't care. I'm going back to my quarters to meditate.'

Maybe, just maybe, Caleb hoped, Anakin would manage to cool down on his own.

* * *

' The Hero with No Fear saves the day again!' The reporter announced. ' He managed to rescue Senator Amidala of Naboo, who was held hostage by Rush Clovis. Shortly after the rescue, it is reported that Rush Clovis was killed. Reasons of his death are yet to be discovered.'

' Oh my,' Caleb dropped his Mechanics homework in shock. Something in the Force told him that Anakin had something to do with Clovis's death. He hadn't expected the man to go _that_ far.

He charged right into Anakin's quarters, and said calmly, ' Mind explaining why Rush Clovis died?'

' Huh?' Anakin raised an eyebrow. He was meditating on some cushions.

Caleb frowned, ' I heard that Rush Clovis died. Did you somehow kill him out of anger? You went too far this time!'

' What, no!' Anakin shook his head frantically. ' I didn't kill him! He... Er, sacrificed himself.'

Caleb stared at him skeptically.

' Really!' Anakin cried out loud. ' Clovis was holding Padme hostage, then a vulture droid crashed into his office. We were sliding down the ledge from the explosion, and Padme and Clovis fell down. I tried to hold both of them... I really did. But Clovis told me to let go of him and he simply fell down.'

Caleb flushed, ' Oh. Then... Well guess... He really did liked her.'

Anakin said grudgingly, ' I think so too.'

* * *

Anakin and Caleb were starting to become quite anxious and restless of how events would turn out.

Master Yoda had come back from his little Force trip, and refused to tell anyone about it (though both of them knew where exactly he had been, thanks to the future Yoda telling them).

' The Battle of Coruscant is drawing close,' Anakin said, on one particularly boring day. ' We must get ready, if we are to get rid of the Sith Lord once and for all.'

' We have everything ready, I guess,' Caleb nodded. ' Evidence and chips off from 501st. But do you think we should remove the chips from the other clones' heads as well? As in the 212th?'

' That won't be necessary,' Anakin titled his head. ' We can't do anything to the 212th without alerting Obi-wan. He would know something's fishy if we do anything.'

' Maybe,' Caleb shrugged.

A small beeping sound to Anakin's comlink drew his attention.

' Skywalker here,' He spoke into it. ' What's up?'

A voice said urgently, ' Anakin? This is Obi-wan. You are needed for an emergency Council meeting. It's really important, so don't you dare go slacking off.'

' Fine, what's going on?' Anakin rolled his eyes.

' The Chancellor has been kidnapped.'

 **Palps is kidnapped XD But we all know better...**

 **As a side note, I still had Yoda go for his small trip in this AU. Though Anakin and Caleb may have made some alterations to the timelines, I guess Qui-Gon would still want Yoda to experience the tests.**

 **And another side note (not related to Star Wars but yeah), for PJO fans, is anyone excited for the new Trials of Apollo book? I think they just released it yesterday or something, and one of my classmates somehow has the book in her possession already. *so jealous* D: But I can't find it in the bookstore near my school... So... Argh...**


	44. Chapter 44

**You won't believe how much trouble I had with this chapter ;P**

 **But anyways, there you go, a chapter in which... Obi-wan suspects...**

 _Just leave him alone_ , Caleb wanted so badly to scream at the comlink, but restrained himself, because hey, that was the esteemed Master Obi-wan Kenobi behind the comlink. Also, he couldn't let him know of Palps's real identity.

If Anakin felt angry, he didn't show it. ' Oh, I see,' He answered calmly, after a short, awkward pause. ' So who's assigned to the rescue mission?' Of course he knew the answer already, but yet, he still asked to divert any suspicion.

Obi-wan seemed to be taken back by Anakin's indifference, as he spluttered, ' Er, you and I, of course. Why would I be contacting you so urgently if that isn't the case?'

' Okay, I see,' Anakin said plainly. Secretly, even though he knew for a long time he would be assigned to the mission by the Council, he was rather reluctant to go. Hey, rescuing the man who was actually plotting the downfall of the Republic behind your back since you became a Jedi? That's crazy.

' Actually, Anakin, I expected you to be a bit more, er, worried.' One could simply hear the great deal of frowning behind the great Negotiator's words.

' Really, why would I?' Anakin actually sounded amused.

Caleb seriously wanted to stomp on the older man's foot. He was being extremely abnormal here. It was common knowledge that Anakin would act like a total ' drama queen' whenever his friends or loved ones disappeared. For example, when his wife got taken by General Grievous, or when Ahsoka got kidnapped by Trandoshans, he threw a major fit.

Supposedly, as seen by Obi-wan's perspective, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic (again, supposedly, he was his friend) was kidnapped by Separatists.

' Well, I thought you would at least be _slightly_ worried,' Obi-wan was almost lost for words. ' The kidnapping of the Chancellor could cause us to lose this war. Am I right?'

' _Well_ , there's nothing we could do for now,' Anakin replied in a very 'un-Anakin' like way, though he was secretly pleased that he was breaking his Master's reputation (aha! The great Negotiator is speechless for once! Take that, Obi-wan!). ' Right, there's a meeting. I'll meet you outside in 5 minutes. See you.'

His cold facade immediately broke once his com was disconnected, and he groaned heavily.

Caleb crossed his arms, ' You are acting too abnormal over there just now. Master Kenobi would suspect there is something going on with you.'

' What else can I do?' Anakin sulked, looking rather like a deflated balloon. ' Argh, it's happening. The Battle of Coruscant is happening, at last. What should I do, what should I do?'

' I thought we are ready for it,' Caleb nodded. ' I was just thinking, why don't you just kill Palps once and for all on Grievous's ship? He wouldn't suspect a thing. That would save us a lot of trouble. And there wouldn't be any manipulation.'

' Yeah? And I bet you ten credits, that I would be arrested for murdering the Chancellor once I get down to Coruscant,' Anakin scowled.

Once again, a stroke of inspiration dawned on Caleb, and he cracked a wide, wicked grin.

Anakin noticed his look and sighed, ' Oh, this is not good.'

' What?'

' You are grinning. Evilly. Don't tell me it's the rancor plan again-'

' Nah, not a rancor,' He shook his head. ' You know what? Go ahead and get rid of Palps once and for all. You won't get arrested, I promise.'

The Knight raised an eyebrow skeptically.

Caleb got up and slid the door open, ' I thought you have a meeting to attend. What are you waiting for? Go now!'

* * *

Anakin was very late, but surprisingly, no one actually bothered to chastise him for his tardiness.

Most Jedi Masters were present for the incredibly urgent meeting. For Masters Plo Koon, Ki-Adi Mundi and a few others who were not on Coruscant at the time, they were present in flickering blue holograms.

All of them looked distraught, and for once, Anakin was the calmest of them all, but they were too distressed to notice.

Plo Koon asked, ' How is the situation on Coruscant?'

' Terrible,' Windu grimaced. ' Holonet reporters are currently having a field day in the Senate building, running around and trying to take photos of the scene. Senators are raising quite a bit of hell in the Senate gatherings, demanding for explanation, and it is chaos in there, you won't want to know what exactly is going on with them. Republic officers are badgering us for help.'

' Depart to rescue the Chancellor, Master Kenobi and Skywalker must,' Yoda ordered seriously. ' Delay the mission, you can't. Important to succeed in this mission, it is.'

' Yes, Master Yoda,' Obi-wan bowed low.' Masters, when do we leave Coruscant?'

' I guess Skywalker and you could have two days to pack,' Windu said. ' And also, prepare your men for battle.'

Obi-wan's eyes darted to Anakin, as if daring him to disagree, ' Of course, Masters. We will be done with packing and briefing as soon as possible.'

' Yes Masters,' Anakin nodded respectfully as well. ' We will find and rescue Palps- I mean, the _Chancellor_.' He nearly bit on his tongue to stop the name from slipping, and made a mental note to get rid of that ridiculous nickname before it stuck to him permanently. Fortunately, the other Masters didn't pay much attention to his mistake. They were too absorbed in hearing Obi-wan's promises on getting his clone pilots ready for the major air assault.

He rolled his eyes, and listened.

* * *

Caleb received his Master's permission to see Anakin and Obi-wan off.

He was wondering past the gunships, nearly tripping over R2 and bumped into Obi-wan. The Jedi Master greeted him politely, and disappeared into the gunship.

Anakin was just walking down the ramp his ship, directing his men to carry crates of blasters and extra materials. On the other side, Hawk could be seen climbing into his starfighter. Next to him, Caleb recognised Odd Ball (he accidentally flung a platter of sausages into the clone once), who was also prepping for his flight.

Caleb approached Anakin, ' Hey there! This is for you.' He handed him a shiny new comlink.

' I already have one,' Anakin held up his own, personal comlink. ' What's with the new one?'

' That's a secret one,' Caleb said exasperatedly. ' I want you to send me a signal, when you get on board of the Invisible Hand.'

' What for?'

' Just send me a signal,' Caleb insisted. ' Let it be a "hey" or something else. Just tell me once you step on the Invisible Hand, okay?'

Anakin asked, ' Okay fine, but why?'

Caleb waved his hand in front of him dramatically and said in his best Mace Windu accent, ' I thought you knew... Questions are not the Jedi way.'

' What?' Anakin laughed. ' That isn't even in the Jedi Code. You made that up, didn't you?'

' Whatever, maybe. Just do it for me, okay?'

' Fine,' Anakin stuffed the comlink into his pocket as a sign of defeat. ' I'll have to leave now. Well, good luck with whatever you are cooking up. And... I guess I will have to kill Palps?'

' Maybe,' Caleb smiled cheerfully. ' But if you don't, I might just finish what you have started... So no worries!' Then, he looked behind him to check for any eavesdroppers, and asked in a low voice, ' What does your wife think of this mission?'

' She doesn't like it,' Anakin scratched the back of his head. ' But then she is extremely worried about Palps, so she had nothing else to say.'

Up on the gunship, Obi-wan called down impatiently, ' Anakin! Your men and I have been waiting for you for half an hour already! Stop fooling around and come on! We need to save the Chancellor immediately.'

Caleb pushed Anakin up the ramp, ' Okay then. Goodbye, goodbye! And may the Force be with you!' In return, Anakin shot him one last suspicious look, before climbing up to join his men and Obi-wan.

* * *

Unlike Anakin, Obi-wan never daydreamed in mission briefings, not even once during his Padawan years under Qui-gon.

This time, however, his mind was drifting off while Rex was droning on and on listlessly about his preparations of the battle. He was thinking about Anakin. His behaviour was going from weird to weirdest throughout the last two months.

First, he was always in business-mode. During Council meetings, surprisingly, he didn't even attempt to talk back to Mace Windu and would actually listen to his words attentively. And he always looked at Obi-wan with such sombreness, as if he was going to drop dead in any second.

Furthermore... He was very close to that young Padawan boy lately. Caleb Dume... Right? The Padawan of Master Depa Billaba, one of the esteemed masters in the High Council. This was very strange, as Obi-wan knew Anakin rarely spoke with Master Billaba. So... How in the Force did he befriend that Caleb boy, who was known to be the clumsiest Jedi in the whole Order (his clumsiness nearly rivals Jar Jar Binks)?

Also... His lack of enthusiasm for the kidnapping of the Chancellor disturbs him. It was almost... like he was reluctant to perform this hostage extraction. Why?

Watching Anakin nodding stiffly towards the small band of clone pilots at the holotable, Obi-wan couldn't help but think:

 _He must be hiding something._

 **Suspicious Obi-wan... :D**

 **There you go:**

 _ **On May the Fourth...**_

 **Me: *runs to my classroom and yanks open the door excitedly***

 **Classmates who were sitting in the classroom: *either having a short nap, eating breakfast or finishing up last-minute homework***

 **Me: *screams* HEY! MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!**

 **Classmate 1: *looks up from her revision with a scandalised look* What?**

 **Classmate 2: Uh... Okay...**

 **Classmate 3: *looks at me with annoyance* Okay, dear.**

 **Classmate 4: *snores* Zzzzz...**

 **Classmate 5: What was that?**

 **Friend: No one gets your joke.**

 **Me: B-but... It's Star Wars Day! May the Fourth, as in May the Force-**

 **Friend: No one gets it. Okay?**

 **Me: *disappointed* Oh, okay.**


	45. Chapter 45

**This is a rather huge chapter, and will be split into many little parts. Also please bear with me :P As I am not a very good speech writer.**

Caleb gleefully emptied out his bag of supplies bought from the Coruscant market. Even though his purchases also emptied out his pocket money, it was totally worth it.

Lying on top of his working desk, were a couple extra data chips, a portable sound amplifier, a voice scrambler, a small voice recorder and a boom box (he had no idea why he bought that). He cackled to himself, and sat down on his bed to wait for Anakin's signal.

* * *

Anakin and Obi-wan's fighters were soaring around the crazy air battlefield, dodging any bolts or explosions from enemy ships.

Obi-wan was having a very bad day in his fighter. First, he was attacked by stupid buzz droids. Secondly, his faithful droid was destroyed by said droids. Finally, his fighter was almost spiralling out of control from the damages. His day was starting to get better when they crashed onto Grievous's ship, where he could finally vent off his anger by destroying some of the Separatist droids.

After asking R2 to locate the Chancellor, Anakin jolted, pulled out a comlink from his pocket and began to speak quietly into it.

' What was that for?' Obi-wan asked, while kicking away the remains of a droid.

' Uh, n-nothing,' Anakin answered a bit too quickly, and hid the comlink from sight. ' What are you waiting for? Let's go now.'

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but didn't say anything, ' Alright, alright. Let's locate the Chancellor then.'

* * *

His comlink buzzed, and Caleb grabbed it eagerly using the Force.

' Well, that's it, I'm on Grievous's ship. Caleb, I hope you know what you are doing,' Anakin's quiet, resigned voice came in through the channel.

Caleb chirped animatedly, ' Thank you! Thank you! Okay, go off to find Palps and defeat him! May the Force be with you!' Then, he literally jumped onto his chair and started working on his computer. The Force was kind to him, for it was lunchtime, and he expected that most civilians, Senators, clones or Jedi on any planet were probably watching the HoloTV while enjoying their meals.

Fortunately, Zeb and Ezra had once showed him how to hack into some kind of broadcasting system to broadcast anything he wanted (Ezra once made a long speech). They might not use the same kind of broadcasting systems in the far future, but the mechanisms behind the systems were quite similar.

First, he plugged the voice amplifier, voice scrambler and the voice recorder into the computer, and brought out all the evidence data chips he owned. Palps's Sith transmissions to Tyranus, his evil schemes, the Order 66 chip and a Sith holocron he accidentally swept away without knowing. Oh well.

Yes. This was Caleb's plan. He was to display _ALL_ of Palpatine's evil schematics to the world via the great HoloTV and let everyone know he was a Sith Lord. He would show the evidence and add in his own commentary with the speaker. Well, he wasn't a very good public speaker (unlike Palps), but that would have to do.

Then, Anakin wouldn't be convicted for killing Palps. Good.

A loud cracking noise announced to Caleb that he succeeded in overtaking the Holonet. So he began his plan with a deep breath before speaking into the speaker for the first time, ' _Hello? Testing.'_

It terrified him a lot, as the voice scrambler distorted his voice so much that his voice was higher by a dozen octaves. But he was aware that half of the galaxy were listening to his speech, he didn't let his fear show.

' _Sorry to disturb any holo shows you are watching, but this is pretty urgent, so do bear with me.'_

Ahsoka

She was having her day off at home, trying to make herself some pasta with the help of a cooking channel on the Holonet, when the smiling Mon Calamarian chef disappeared with a crack and was replaced with a blank bluish screen.

Abandoning her bowl of food ingredients, she rushed over to the TV to check for damages of any sort, when his computer training kicked in just in time to tell her that this was no error. The Holo channel was taken over by someone.

' _Hello? Testing.'_

She almost jumped back at the high _-_ pitch squeak. ' Voice scrambler,' She noted with a frown. Who was that?

' _Sorry to disturb any holo shows you are watching, but this is pretty urgent, so do bear with me. You don't need to know who I am, because, er, well, yeah. So where do I start? Right.'_

Ahsoka almost snorted at how ridiculous this speech sounded.

' _Okay. I'm sure all of you here know who is Supreme Chancellor Palps- Sorry, I_ _mean Palpatine. Yes, the Chancellor of the galactic Republic. But what if I tell you he is actually a Sith Lord and is plotting behind our backs with the Separatists? And what if I tell you he is actually trying to eliminate the Jedi?'_

She almost knocked over her mug of tea in shock at what the person just said, and a not so distant memory resurfaced. Why, Caleb was hinting that! Could the person behind the voice by Caleb?

Regardless of who that was, Ahsoka knelt in front of the TV, and listened with growing horror at the contents that would be brought up.

Yoda and Windu

' _No, this is not April Fool's Day. I am not joking. This is very real.'_

For the past couple minutes, Master Yoda and Master Windu were sitting upon meditation cushions, watching the very strange Holo transmission from the HoloTV. They were having trouble with picking up their jaw from the floor.

' Impossible this is,' Yoda murmured to Windu. ' A Sith, the Chancellor can't be.'

For once, Windu stammered, ' It can't be. But... The...'

' _Not convinced, eh? I knew it. Here are some evidence from the Chancellor's office. Holo communications between a Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus. And look! The Holo address up there looks like it's from the Chancellor's model. Enjoy.'_

The blank screen was replaced by flickering images of Count Dooku kneeling in front of a cloaked figure. It was only when the cloaked person started speaking, Yoda and Windu trembled at how hauntingly familiar his voice was.

' Don't worry, my Apprentice,' He cackled. ' The Jedi are fools. They will never know that the Senate is under the influence of the Sith. They will never know my true identity, and then, us Sith can fully rise again and take over the galaxy.'

' _Hang on, let me replay that once again.'_ And the same audio played again. ' _And let me show you this nice Sith holocron. I'm sure I can't open it, because I am not a Sith. But I'm quite sure none of you here would like to know what is in there.'_

The Sith holocron appeared.

Windu breathed heavily, ' I don't want to believe this... But the evidence is sound and solid. Could Chancellor Palpatine really be the Sith Master we have been chasing after for so long? Oh man, and he's under our noses throughout these years. Should we alert Skywalker and Kenobi?'

' Listen to the rest of this, we should,' Yoda tapped his stick on the floor with a frustrated grunt. ' Then decide what to do, we can. Alert Skytwalker and Kenobi, we should not for the time being. Do anything to them, the Chancellor won't.'

Windu nodded, and tried his best not to puke while listening to the rest of the speech.

Senators

' _The Chancellor could be a Sith. And he is also fooling the Senate, as he is in fact working with the Separatists to bring down the Republic as part of his evil schematics. Oh yeah, he was the one who asked his Apprentice to create the Separatists in the first place. Soo...'_

The beautifully crafted vase that Padme was holding dropped and shattered onto the floor. It was a nice gift from Senator Riyo Chuchi, however the giver of the gift herself was too appalled to care for the splinters of porcelain around her. Sitting at the back of her office, were Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. They too were frozen in shock.

' _Anyways, here is a nice conversation between Darth Sidious and Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Separatist Council.'_

The spinning Sith holocron was replaced by an image of the Neimoidian. And the conversation was about fooling the Senate, invading planets, fooling the Senate, invading planets and trying to bring all planets under their control.

Padme tried not to vomit in disgust at the sight of Nute Gunray. The said Neimoidian nearly took over her home planet, and that was one thing she would never forget in her entire life. However, the knowledge that her friend was lying to them was the most sickening.

Riyo was the first to break the silence, ' What?! After all these years of working so hard for the Republic... We were fooled all along?'

' This means...' Bail murmured. ' Palpatine started the Clone Wars. We are fighting a meaningless war here. That's why the Republic is crumbling.'

' All these years of development, bickering and war, for nothing?' Mon Mothma cried. ' We have been betrayed! I knew he wouldn't return those emergency powers, I knew it!'

Padme said nothing, for she was so angry and horrified at the same time.

' That reminds me,' Riyo said. ' Didn't the Council send Masters Skywalker and Kenobi to rescue the kidnapped Palpatine? Do you reckon they know about this, um, plot?'

' Oh, no,' Padme whispered, remembering that her husband was sent to rescue the said traitor.

On the cue, Bail's comlink buzzed like mad, and after a couple of murmurs into it, he said grimly, ' No time to listen to the whole thing. The Senators have called for an emergency meeting. Now.'

Clones

' _Um, how should I put this? Er yeah, this sounds crazy, but there are inhibitor chips in all the clones's brains. Yes, every single one of them in the GAR. What do they do? Yes, once activated by Palpatine, the whole army of clones would turn against the Jedi and kill them.'_

The clone mess hall bursted into chaos.

' WHAT? WHAT?' Cody and Bly screamed.

' _Oh, here is a chip taken from one of the clones in the 501st. Sorry guys, whoever this belongs to.'_

A small inhibitor chip danced in front of their faces.

' _Ehrm, let me open it...'_

A long list of commands and programmings was displayed. From the top to bottom.

' _Here are all the contingency orders programmed in a clone's chip, and let me scroll down to the one I need, um, here. Let me read the last part out loud. GAR commanders will remove those officers, aka the Jedi, by lethal force. Oh, no, there is no blocking to this. Once called for, the clones will have no choice but to kill all the Jedi. And that plan is by Mr. Palps, because you know, Jedi are enemies of the Sith. And sorry again, guys, but Palpatine is just using the clones to bring down the Jedi.'_

' That can't be!' Fox shrieked, while trying to control his men, who were shouting angrily as well. ' We will never betray the Jedi! They won't and can't make us do that.'

( And for Wolffe, who was not on Coruscant at the time, could be seen bashing his head trying to take out his chip)

Gree (who was a tad bit calmer than the rest) and Grey could be seen trying to comfort Cody, who was vomiting his entire lunch into a large bucket.

' I can't believe this,' Bly said, his voice shrill. ' They have been using us! The Chancellor betrayed us!'

' I know,' Gree looked pale. ' But we will never betray the Jedi, after what they have done for us.'

' I wholeheartedly agree,' Cody looked up weakly from his bucket. ' But anyone know how to remove that chip?'

* * *

' That's quite enough for today,' Caleb concluded. ' So now you all know about who Chancellor Palps really is. Good. That's all I have to say. Now, goodbye and have a great day.' Then he disconnected his speaker and the voice scrambler.

Phew, his voice was hoarse by the end of this long speech. It wasn't exactly easy, but he thought he pulled it off just fine.

Now, he had done his part. He hoped that Anakin would succeed.

* * *

On their way up that cranky elevator, Obi-wan couldn't help but feel that something was off. Through the Force, he could sense that there were growing anger and confusion sizzling and bouncing off Coruscant.

' Hey, Anakin, can you sense that?' He shuddered.

' Oh, yes,' Anakin replied, though secretly, he knew this had something to do with young Caleb. ' There's a great disturbance in the Force... Loads of anger, hate, despair and confusion coming off Coruscant... And most of them are from civilians too.'

' Strange,' Obi-wan shuffled around nervously. ' But I guess we should forget about that for the time being. We have a Chancellor to rescue.'

 _Oh, Caleb,_ Anakin thought anxiously. _What have you done?_

 **Caleb saved your life, Anakin! XD Yeah, and Dave Filoni put up a teaser of Rex's look in Season 3! 3 It's his classic Clone Wars helmet! :DDDDDD So excited! Maybe Rex can fight against Vader too!**

 **My really important final exams are coming up in a couple weeks, so I am revising for it right now. If I am inactive for a while, no, I am not eaten by a rancor, it's just I need to study. o.O Any study tips? D:**


	46. Chapter 46

The Temple was in a state of frenzy when Caleb finally came out of his bird nest of a room for a short afternoon walk.

Council Jedi Masters were all missing for an emergency meeting, Jedi Knights were standing in small groups and muttering about the strange Holo transmission they had just seen (at this, Caleb whistled innocently) and Jedi Padawans were chasing after their own Masters, demanding for explanations.

' Oh, Caleb, you are here,' A voice called for Caleb, and he stopped abruptly, to face his Master.

' Hey, Master,' He went for a casual smile. ' What's up?'

' Terrible things have happened,' She frowned. ' You know about the anonymous transmission, right?'

' Yes, heard it over lunch. What's with it?'

' We are not sure,' She beckoned Caleb to follow her back to their quarters, in order for them to properly chat. ' Master Windu would like to alert Master Kenobi and Skywalker to stop the hostage extraction mission at once. However, Master Yoda thinks it's probably best not to surprise the Sith and deal with him once they drop off to Coruscant.'

Caleb nodded, ' Ah.'

' Though I'm pretty curious of who that was,' Depa said matter-of-factly. ' Master Koon reckons it's probably a Jedi. Er, a female Jedi, judging from that high-pitched voice.'

He choked into his fist, ' Oh, yeah, right. Pretty high-pitched. Yeah. A girl.'

Depa didn't notice his discomfort, and kept talking, ' Though the question is, how did a Jedi manage to get all these information? What is actually the Jedi thinking about? Why didn't she tell the Council immediately once she discovers these terrible information?'

At this, Caleb squirmed. He didn't like being referred to a 'she', but didn't say anything, well, since Anakin was depending on him. He couldn't risk blowing his cover. And he wouldn't want to have zealous Holo reporters badgering him around.

' Let's not talk about this, yet,' Depa's eyes sparkled. ' I heard from Master Palmer that you have been behaving well in class lately. That's very good, Caleb. It's a major improvement. I know Jedi are not supposed to give out rewards, but I guess, we can go to Dex's Diner for dinner tonight as a small reward. And you can visit that cookie store afterwards. Okay?'

' Cool!' He beamed. He definitely deserved a proper cookie rest after all the hard work he had done for the day. Maybe he should just sit back, enjoy the evening and let Anakin do his stuff.

Little did he know that his evening would not go as planned.

* * *

The turbo lift doors slid open, and the pair of Jedi stepped out. It was a rather terrible ride.

They walked into a large, large hall. With windows so wide that they could overlook the entire mess of a space battle. Anakin grimaced, and hoped that his men were doing well against the silly droids. And at the very middle, the traitorous Chancellor was sitting on a chair, his hands cuffed to the sides.

Keeping his cool demeanour, Anakin followed Obi-wan to greet the Chancellor. Being the civilised Jedi he was, Obi-wan bowed low, ' Chancellor.'

' Are you alright?' Anakin tried to say kindly, in order to deflect any suspicion coming his way.

' Count Dooku,' Palpatine only said.

The Jedi whirled just in time to see Dooku standing over them, flanked by two super battle droids.

Obi-wan muttered to Anakin warningly, ' This time, we will do it together.' The real meaning was quite clear, _don't do anything idiotic, Anakin._

' I was about to say that,' Anakin retorted cheekily.

' Get help, you are no match for him. He's a Sith Lord,' Palpatine said, almost worriedly. Anakin almost chortled at how ironic this was, but kept a straight face.

' Chancellor Palpatine,' Obi-wan assured him. ' Sith Lords, are our speciality.' More irony. _Dude,_ Anakin wanted to shout so badly, _don't you realise you are actually talking to a real Sith Lord about Sith Lords?_

Dooku said contemptuously, ' Your swords please. You don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.'

Obi-wan stepped forward confidently, ' You won't get away this time, Dooku.'

They lit their lightsabers all the same time and fought each other with great enthusiasm. As for Anakin, his Form V was more refined than ever, many thanks to his small time travelling trip. The man formerly known as Darth Vader, who was also one of the best duellists in the galaxy at that time (who also duelled many other Jedi to death), generously gave him pointers on how to defeat Makashi users, and especially Dooku.

' Over the many years,' The Ghost-Anakin had bragged to anyone who would listen proudly. ' I have researched on Count Dooku's moves, and I'm perfectly sure with my wonderful tips, you will be able to defeat him without a scratch!' So he went about showing Anakin his Vader-style anti-Makashi moves with a ghostly, harmless lightsaber (no idea where he got that).

Anakin hated to admit it, but Ghost-Anakin's tips were absolutely useful. With a smile, Dooku broke away from his vigorous attacks, and said, ' I have been looking forward to this.'

Annoyed, Anakin probably said the most _Anakin-like thing_ he ever said, which was probably idiotic, ' My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count.'

' Good,' He smiled again. ' Twice the pride, double the fall.'

Their blades met again with a thunderous clash, and Anakin mumbled to Obi-wan through their bond, ' _Hey, Old Man, it's time to pull away.'_

 _' What?'_ Obi-wan raised an eyebrow, and desperately parried at Count Dooku's blows. ' _What do you mean? Why?'_

 _' Trust me,'_ Anakin thought, and tried to kick at Dooku. ' _Now.'_

Obi-wan pulled away just in time before Dooku blasted him with the Force, and ran over to deal with the battle droids instead. Dooku seemed surprised by his sudden move, but he recovered quickly to block Anakin's crazy Vader style blows.

Obi-wan narrowed his eyes as he brushed away the last bits of the battle droids. Anakin's lightsaber format seemed... Quite different. It looked like Form V, however, the moves were more aggressive... And he couldn't put it. It was probably an altered form of Djem So. He made a mental note to ask him whether he was switching styles again. The last time Anakin tried to learn Vaapad, it was rather disastrous.

 _It's time,_ Anakin thought, and pulled out his final trick. The ultimate anti-Makashi defence form, or the 'Super amazing awesome and fantastic Darth Vader Form', as Ghost-Anakin lovingly called it. But it was highly narcissistic name, so Anakin didn't agree with it. Ahsoka secretly suggested to call it the 'egotistic, crazy, idiotic Anakin defence form' instead.

Calling down for Luke, Caleb, Ezra, Kanan, Ahsoka and everyone else's blessing, he leapt in the way the narcissistic Ghost-Anakin taught him, and catching Dooku by surprise with his sudden, strange, disarming attack.

Triumphantly, Anakin beamed and positioned his and Dooku's lightsabers in a cross position at his neck, like a scissor. Dooku knelt, though he was apparently too shocked to accept his defeat. ' YAS!' Obi-wan totally forgot his manners and shouted.

' Good, Anakin, good!' Palpatine grinned, and at this, Anakin shuddered inwardly. ' Now kill him.'

Dooku's eyes widened in horror and stared at his Master with disbelief.

' Er, Chancellor,' Obi-wan spoke up nervously. ' I think that is against the Jedi way. We should bring Dooku back to the Republic, and have him in custody. Maybe we could-'

' Do it,' Palpatine ordered Anakin, almost snarling at him.

' You leave me no choice, Chancellor,' Anakin bowed slightly.

' Good,' Palpatine started to say. ' Do it now-' Sheev Palpatine never got to finish his sentence.

With a rather decisive move, slapped some cuffs onto Dooku and leapt backwards to impale the Chancellor in the chest instead.

Obi-wan and Dooku collectively made a gasp, as the Chancellor slumped back into the chair, quite dead.

' Phew,' Anakin tossed away Dooku's lightsaber and went off to grab Dooku by his tunic. ' Good riddance.' Then he winked pompously at Dooku, ' Good old Sidious was going to betray you. Didn't you sense that?'

' You,' Obi-wan wasn't sure whether he was angry, upset or surprised. ' ANAKIN! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? That was the Chancellor you just killed! They'll have you arrested! What got into you?'

Anakin prodded the Chancellor- no, the ex-Chancellor's body to check if he was alive, and said, ' Chill, Old Man. I just saved the galaxy! I'll explain later, but we need to get off this place with dear old Dooku.' He raised his own comlink and spoke to R2, ' Hey, R2, you there? Have you succeeded? Good. Meet me up at the escape pod area. We're gonna escape.'

' What?' Obi-wan yelped. ' But the-'

' We gotta go, if we don't want to get discovered,' Anakin insisted, and dragged Dooku off to the turbo lift, who was unusually cooperative. Obi-wan made a stifled noise, but decided to follow Anakin.

Obi-wan was about to press the button for a particular floor, but Ghost-Anakin had warned Anakin against that floor (' Ha, they got ray shields installed in there. Don't go. Go to the escape pods immediately, unless you want to fly a half-broken, flaming ship down to Coruscant.').

' Don't go there,' Anakin poked another button. ' This leads to a ray shield. It's a trap!' Obi-wan rolled his eyes.

They ran out of the turbo lift, narrowly escaping a couple oblivious battle droids, and sneaked over to where the escape pods were. Sure enough, the happy blue and silver droid was already waiting for them. He whistled nervously when he saw Count Dooku glowering behind Anakin.

' Oh, he's alright, are we set?' Anakin opened an escape pod. ' Well, go in, Old Man.' Obi-wan pushed Count Dooku into the pod, and disappeared into it. Anakin jumped in with R2, and activated the pod.

Once they were shooting past the stars out of the Separatist flag ship, R2 chirped something in Binary to Anakin. ' Oh yes, thanks, R2,' Anakin smiled and pressed a small device attached to his glove. On the cue, the ship behind them exploded in a 'ka-boom'.

' Woah! When...' Obi-wan said in awe.

' I had R2 plant explosives on the ship's main engines,' Anakin simply said. ' No way General Grievous escaped that. Oh look here, we are dropping into the Coruscant's atmosphere. Brace yourselves.'

They bounced around in the air, dropping in such a great speed that their teeth chattered. And R2's terrified whistles nearly covered the roaring noises caused by the air around them. Finally, when Obi-wan decided they were probably going to fall forever, they dropped violently onto some kind of hard ground.

' Ah,' Obi-wan said sarcastically. ' Another happy landing.'

* * *

Caleb knew something was up when there was a blast through the Force. It was almost like he could breath again without knowing he was holding his breath, or he could see again without noticing he was blindfolded. All the darkness gathering around his sight was just... Gone. In a mere second.

The next couple moments, his Master breathlessly came up to his room, her comlink clutched tightly in her fist and she apologised to him about not being able to take him to Dex's Diner, as Master Skywalker, Kenobi and his astromech had somehow crash landed right in front of Senate building with Count Dooku *surprise, surprise*, and she was to attend an emergency meeting immediately.

Though he was somewhat miffed, Caleb nodded, feeling happy that his friend had survived and brought balance to the Force. He accompanied his Master to the Council Room. Before Depa went in, he caught a glimpse of Anakin and Obi-wan in the centre of the room, covered in dirt and grime. He gave Anakin a thumbs up, and Anakin smiled back weakly.

' Caleb, I think you'd like to go back to your quarters first,' Depa told him kindly. ' The meeting may take ages.'

Caleb bowed forward slightly, and left the place.

 **Yay... Palps is gone! :D**

 **My brain is rather fussy these days... Gotta cram my final exam revision materials into my head... D: I think I'm going to mix up my IT facts with the Geography stuff at this rate :/**


	47. Chapter 47

Obi-wan was still pretty much in denial when Windu told him of the entire 'Palpatine is a Sith Lord' plot.

' No, no way,' He stood in the middle of the room with wide eyes. ' That is impossible, that can't be. Tell me it isn't true, please.' Anakin could simply hear the real meaning behind Obi-wan's polite words, which probably was, _don't tell me you asked me to take all my men and risk a thousand lives just to rescue a Sith Lord?_

' True, it is,' Yoda pointed his stick grimly at Obi-wan. ' Accept it, you will have to, Master Kenobi. See the anonymous holos at lunch, you didn't. Ask Master Jocasta to replay it for you, you should.'

The holo of Master Plo Koon said, ' Well, the problem is solved and the Sith Lord is killed. But I'm more interested in knowing how Master Skywalker managed to get hold of such knowledge even in a mission. Surely you didn't have time to review the news...?'

At the moment, all the attention and spotlight were focused upon Anakin, and a stream of Huttese curses started running down his mind. ' Er,' He said.

Windu simply raised an eyebrow.

' I... Actually did review the news,' Anakin coughed. ' Just by chance when R2 was scanning for the surroundings, I took a quick look at the Holonet news on my, er, data pad, and I saw it. So I decided to vanquish the Dark Lord once and for all.'

' You did?' Obi-wan didn't look convinced. ' I didn't know you brought a data pad to read.'

Anakin flushed, ' You were too absorbed in looking at R2's diagrams! Of course you didn't know.'

' You could have told me, you know,' Obi-wan scowled.

' Yeah? And then risk having you run around trying to kill Palps and Dooku all at once? This wouldn't work,' Anakin fired back hotly.

Ki-Adi Mundi groaned, ' Quit bickering, Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi. This is a Council meeting and try your best to hurry up. I have a battle to go to. And my men are dying, because of the droids AND the cold.'

' Not for long, Master Mundi,' Depa smiled. ' The battles will end soon now that Count Dooku, Grievous and the Sith are dead. Once we arrest the remaining Separatist Council, we can finally have peace!'

Anakin yawned, ' Yeah, I'd like some peace. And sleep.'

' In that case,' Windu said. ' You two could leave now, while the rest of us discuss what to do with the Senate next. And I think both of you should go and get patched up at the healer's. A bacta patch or two would be good.'

' A bacta bath would be nice,' Kit Fisto suggested.

' Nah, we are not even injured,' Obi-wan waved off.' You are overreacting.'

' Well then, you two should take a shower,' Windu said with a smirk. ' You look as if you spent a day living with the womp rats.'

Anakin rolled his eyes before leaving with Obi-wan, ' Gee, thanks.'

* * *

Caleb received a comlink call. He had been sitting on his bed for half an hour, clueless of what to do next now that his Master was on a Council meeting. Oh, he hoped Master Billaba would be back before dinner. He hated to cook on his own, since he once set the kitchen on fire while trying to cook a pot of stew. Master Windu had been most displeased at his Grand Padawan when he showed up asking for a new saucepan.

' Caleb? You there?' Ahsoka's frantic voice came through the com.

' Yes,' Caleb brightened, swinging off his bed. ' I'm here. What's up?'

' I heard... The most terrible things,' She said quickly, and paused for a small moment, before saying, ' That was you behind that girlish voice, wasn't it?'

Caleb frowned when he knew his cover was blown, ' Blast! What gave it away?'

' Dunno... The way you speak,' Ahsoka said anxiously. ' And I know you are in possession of that Order 66 inhibitor chip thing, so naturally I know. Now... Tell me. Is Anakin and Master Obi-wan safe? What happened to the Sith? There were no such news on the Holonet, and I guessed the Jedi probably didn't want this to leak out. But I am so, so worried... So...'

' They are alive,' Caleb confirmed. ' I saw them back at the Jedi Temple. Except they looked filthy.'

' Oh, thank the Force,' Ahsoka breathed out in relief. ' For a moment I thought he was going to get killed by Palpatine or Dooku during the mission. So what happened in the mission?'

' Er, Anakin knew from the beginning when we found the chip, so he killed Palpatine on the spot on board of Grievous's ship. And also from what my Master told me, he blew up the Separatist ship using explosives,' Caleb scratched the back of his head. ' So... Grievous is dead as well.'

There was silence behind the line.

' Um, Ahsoka, would you like to see your Master?' Caleb asked gently. ' He misses you.'

Another pause.

Caleb sighed, ' It's okay. I understand. But...'

' Maybe some day,' Ahsoka promised. ' It's just... I don't really think I am that ready to see my Jedi friends again. It's kind of awkward.'

' No it isn't,' Caleb said.

' Yes it is,' Ahsoka insisted.

Caleb surrendered, ' Okay, fine. But when you feel like you are ready, feel free to give me a call. I'll answer immediately. No, I'll come over and pick you up immediately.'

' That's comforting,' Ahsoka laughed. They said their 'goodbye's and he disconnected his comlink. He got up from where he was sitting, and walked over to the wide window. Ugh, it was getting dark already. And his Master wasn't back, yet. That meant he had to make his own dinner.

He was making his way out to the kitchen with a cook book, when the doorbell rang. With hope, he rushed to the door, and opened it.

' Oh, it's you,' Caleb peered at Anakin, who was standing outside, disappointedly.

' It's me,' Anakin said, confused. ' Can I come in?'

' Sure,' Caleb stepped aside to let the older man come in. He took in Anakin's appearance. The Knight was scrubbed clean and tidy, and was wearing a fresh new set of Jedi robes. He giggled, ' Well, you look clean right now. You were as filthy as womp rats back in the Council Room.'

' Like Grand master, like Grand Padawan,' Anakin snorted. ' He made a joke about me and Obi-wan looking like womp rats as well. I didn't find it funny. Hey, what are you doing?'

Caleb pulled a saucepan from a cupboard, ' Making dinner! I bet you haven't had dinner yet. So please join me for dinner.'

' Er... You don't have to make your own dinner if you don't want to,' Anakin frowned. ' We could always go to have dinner at the mess hall with the clones.'

' Don't feel like it,' Caleb started to ransack the fridge of its ingredients. ' I'm tired.'

Anakin sighed, and examined the great pile of ingredients lying around on the table, ' Fine... But... What... Are you actually making?'

' Dunno, some kind of soup, I guess,' Caleb tossed out the last pack of mushrooms. ' Grey gave me this really nice recipe.'

' Really?' Anakin said incredulously, picking up the food packets. ' What kind of recipe calls for tomato sauce, dried fish, mushroom, muja jam, blue-milk ice-cream, Nautolan spices and green tea leaves?'

Caleb just stood there with a small box of coconut flakes in hand, looking rather crestfallen, ' Grey said it was a famous Kaminoan soup.'

' No, no, no, I don't care if it is some kind of Kaminoan cuisine or what. We're not eating that,' He used the Force to stuff the random food packages back into the fridge or the ingredient cabinet. ' Let's settle for something simpler... As in chicken broth. And ice-cream. Everyone loves chicken broth and ice-cream.' He pulled out a can of those soups, emptied it in the saucepan and began stirring it.

Anakin had loads of practice with broth. Obi-wan used to make him chicken broth when he was sick because Qui-gon used to do that as well. There was a pang of sadness when he realised he used to do the same for Ahsoka when she got a fever (he knew he wasn't a very good cook, so chicken broth was probably the easiest). Guess small things like that passed down from one generation to the other.

It was only when Caleb started gulping down his broth, Anakin started to speak, ' Padme told me she's pregnant.'

Surprised, Caleb nearly spluttered out the hot broth. He made a big performance of gargling and grabbing for his napkin, before choking out hoarsely, ' Could it be Luke and Leia? Because you know, we changed so much things... And, er, maybe... It would change.'

' I think so,' Anakin seemed so calm. ' I'll love the child whether he or she is Luke and Leia or not. And I plan to tell the Council of this tomorrow.'

' WHAT?' Caleb yelped. ' But... But... They'll expel you for sure if you do that.'

' It's alright, I don't care,' Anakin said. ' The most important thing is that I brought balance to the Force, and saved the Republic from being that Empire. Not being a Jedi... Might not be that bad.'

' But,' Caleb protested. ' I thought you like being a Jedi!'

' Yes,' Anakin said. ' But on the bright side, really, it might not be as bad as we think. Maybe... Padme and I can move to Naboo, and you know, spend the rest of our days with our children in peace. I have done my part here, and it doesn't matter if I go into exile or something.'

' But... Ahsoka might come back,' He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

' Look, the ice-cream is melting,' Anakin said firmly, and Caleb knew any negotiating opportunities were closed. That is that.

He watched miserably as Anakin attacked the bowl of ice-cream.

 **:D**

 **Tada, here's the 'Me and Star Wars', ft. Harry Potter**

 **Group mate #1: Hey, for our economics project, we need to design a type of beverage.**

 **Me: Cool, what are we doing?**

 **Group mate #2: We want to do a 'Fandom-themed' drink, and we came up with some ideas. If we are doing a Harry Potter themed drink, we can design a Butterbeer latte or something.**

 **Group mate #1: If we are doing a Star Wars one, maybe we could do a Yoda green tea latte.**

 **Group mate #2: Yes. We could do Harry Potter or Star Wars themed drink. Which one would you want? Take your pick.**

 **Me: *wails* I CAN'T CHOOSE! I LOVE 'EM BOTH.**

 **Group mate #1: JUST CHOOOOOOSE ONE.**

 **Me: *runs off* BUT I CAN'T!**

 **Group mate #2: Er, what was that all about?**

 **(Though in the end they picked the Butterbeer drink)**

 **And that's exactly the problem when one has multiple favourite fandoms.**


	48. Chapter 48

' So,' Mace Windu said, possibly shaking with inward anger. ' You mean to tell us that you have been breaking the Jedi Code and married to the Senator for three whole years?'

' Yes, and she is going to have a baby,' Anakin bowed his head.

The Council members peered at each other worriedly. They were just talking about making Anakin Skywalker a Jedi Master for his good deeds to the Republic and the Jedi Order, even without raising a Padawan to Knighthood. Now, he was telling them that he was breaking the Jedi Code, literally asking to be expelled from the Order.

Most alarming of all, Obi-wan sat frozen in his seat, staring through Anakin as if he didn't exist.

Everyone else waited, for the old Grandmaster to say something. Finally, Yoda said, ' Hmm. Broke the Jedi Code to bits, you did, Skywalker.'

Anakin gulped, ' So am I expelled?' Well... Now that he looked back, Caleb was probably right. He did like being a Jedi. It was harder than he thought. But he had to do this.

Plo Koon said, ' Probably not right away. He'll need a proper Jedi trial, right?'

' Yes,' Windu nodded at his fellow Council member. ' A Jedi trial is in order.'

Anakin frowned. He couldn't remember exactly, but the future Obi-wan might have mentioned a Jedi Trial before. Uhhhh, what was that about again? Yes. A Jedi Trial for him to defend his actions. That would further complicate things. And he knew if he didn't leave quickly, the Holonet reporters would be badgering him and Padme to death. Imagine, the latest Holonet headline: HERO WITH NO FEAR IS MARRIED TO THE BEAUTIFUL SENATOR OF NABOO?!

Ugh. The horrors.

' It is hardly necessary,' He found himself saying boldly. ' It's a pretty solid fact I broke the Jedi Code. So why fuss about it and why don't you just expel me on the spot?'

Depa raised an eyebrow, ' You are giving up the opportunity to defend yourself, Skywalker?'

' No, but it's just...' Anakin flushed.

Obi-wan spoke up suddenly (though his tone literally meant _don't you dare say a word, you idiot_ ), nearly scaring Anakin out of his wits, ' You will have a trial, Skywalker, no matter what you think. It is the standard procedure.' The formality and the mad glint in his eye terrified Anakin. He usually saved those for the worst of the Separatists.

' Er, yes,' Windu pulled himself out of his small stupor. ' Master Kenobi is right. You will have a trial, um, next week. Further details will be sent to your data pad, latest by tomorrow. I guess you had better start thinking of your defences if you wish to continue being a Jedi. Now... Council dismissed.'

The esteemed Council members exited the room one by one, not before shooting Anakin weird glances. Obi-wan swept past Anakin, grabbing him by the back of his robes, and started to haul him off (this attracted the attention of many Jedi initiates. ' Ow, gerrof me, Old Man! Ow! My back!' He tried to sweep Obi-wan off, but his former Master's grip was as strong as ever.

' You idiot,' Obi-wan muttered as he walked. ' Somehow, I knew you would pull off a stunt like this.'

' Pardon me?' Anakin rubbed his aching shoulder.

Obi-wan fumed, ' Are you crazy? You shouldn't give up the Trial just like that! There's still hope for you, my former Padawan. With the right defence team and persuasion, Windu might let you continue to work in the Order. Don't you dare give up.' He finally released Anakin when he reached his own quarters.

' What are we doing here?' Anakin looked around at the familiar place warily.

' Making calls,' Obi-wan said grumpily, and reached for his holoprojector. ' We got to start creating your defence if you wish to remain a Jedi. Ah, Captain Rex seems like a good choice. Yes, he will agree to this.'

' Why can't _you_ defend for me?'

' Because I am part of the Council,' Obi-wan dialed Rex's channel furiously. ' I shouldn't be biased in the judgement and pick sides, which means I'm not supposed to help you in any way. But yet, I'm helping you. Because you are my former Padawan.' Anakin's heart fluttered with gratitude. The great Obi-wan Kenobi, disregarding rules just for him?

' Who are you and what have you done to my Master?' He joked mischievously.

' Hmph,' Obi-wan said.

Anakin noted, ' You are angry at me for breaking the Code, right?'

' Angry?' Obi-wan gave him a deadpan stare. ' I'm more disappointed at you than angry, Anakin. And no, I'm not disappointed at that. I'm disappointed that you didn't choose to tell me. I could have helped you.' This didn't sound like Obi-wan, though Anakin wisely decided not to say anything.

At the moment, the blue-armoured clone captain appeared over the projector, most surprised that it was General Kenobi who contacted him. Anakin watched as Obi-wan spoke to Rex, and Rex was most astonished at the situation he landed in. In the end, Rex nodded defiantly, ' Yes Sir! I will help, Sir!'

Obi-wan turned back to face Anakin wearily, ' Fortunately, Rex has agreed to defend for you and he will ask help from the other clones. Do you have any idea who else you want to have on your team?'

' Er, maybe Caleb,' Anakin pondered for a moment.

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow, ' You sure you want that young boy?'

' Yep.'

' Fine. We'll add him in. For the time being, I guess you should... Er, take a break from everything, and think of what to say to the Council next week,' Obi-wan tossed away his holoprojector.

Anakin rolled his eyes.

* * *

Caleb was being a very good kid, and was doing his Language homework.

He was encountering a particularly tricky literature question. Maybe he should just get up and ask Master Kenobi for help. However, he knew the Jedi Master was probably very busy these few days with those crazy Council meetings (he knew as his Master was always away these days). The shocking fact the great Anakin Skywalker broke the Jedi Code was all around the Temple, and he was simply amazed at how the Holonet hadn't got wind of the news yet when... the truth was out there.

On the cue, the doorbell rang. He got up from his 'barricade' of reference books borrowed from the archives, and went to get the door. It was Obi-wan Kenobi. Oh, the non-blue one.

' Hello, Padawan Dume,' He said kindly.

' Oh, good morning, Master Kenobi. To what do I owe the pleasure?' Caleb bowed politely.

Obi-wan said, ' I am here to remind you of the Master Skywalker's Trial. I assume you know that you are to present yourself in front of the Council as Anakin's defence.' Caleb nodded. He had received an official notice just the day before from his rather skeptical looking Master.

' Wonderful. It is to be held next Tuesday, at 3pm sharp.'

' Er,' Caleb stammered. ' That... Kind of clashed with my Language make-up class before the exams.'

' That has been taken care of,' Obi-wan smiled. ' I talked to dear Master Palmer, and she is willing to reschedule your class. You are officially dismissed from all kinds of classes and missions at that time. So don't you worry.'

' Great,' Caleb breathed. He was most unwilling to miss any classes (he had to work hard in order to graduate the Knighthood) OR miss Anakin's Trial.

' And I assume you know what to say?' Obi-wan crossed his arms.

' I am preparing for that,' Caleb blushed. ' I hope my speech will help Master Skywalker in some way. Though I am not quite sure if there is anything else I can do for him.'

' In fact, yes,' Obi-wan tilted his head. ' I could use some company for a small journey. Care to join?'

' What?' Caleb piped excitedly, anxious to escape his sea of books for once. ' Where?'

Obi-wan smiled thinly, ' To visit Anakin's wife, Senator Padme Amidala.'

* * *

Obi-wan piloted the speeder, while Caleb sat at the other seat. ' Wait, Senator Amidala doesn't know of his, er, Trial yet? How can this be?' He demanded.

' Of course she doesn't,' Obi-wan swerved just in time to avoid a giant fruit transporting ship. ' It's strictly Jedi business, and no outsider is supposed to know. But well, she's his wife, and she deserves to know about the Trial. Oh look, we are here.' He parked just outside the luxurious Senate Apartment Complex.

They presented their identities at the guards in the front doors, and were directed to an equally luxurious turbo lift. Caleb wasn't quite used to such luxury, and was fidgeting around for a bit. Finally, they stepped out at the last floor, and rang the door bell.

The door swung open to reveal the dazzling gold 3PO. ' Oh, it's Master Kenobi, how wonderful to see you! And-' His robotic voice faltered. ' Who is this?'

' 3PO, this is Caleb Dume, a friend of mine. Is Senator Amidala here?' Obi-wan said pleasantly.

' Why yes, she is, I'll sent for her,' The protocol droid bobbed away awkwardly, and by the time he returned, he was followed by the famous Senator. Caleb noted, she did a great job with hiding her pregnancy with a rather voluminous yet elegant gown.

' Obi-wan? What are you doing here?' She gasped at the sight of the Jedi Master, and she quickly noticed Caleb beside him, who felt terribly out of place. ' This is...'

' Padawan Caleb Dume, nice to meet you, My Lady,' Caleb tried to be as courteous as possible. He had plenty of practice at Leia and Han's wedding, where he had to greet countless Senators and handmaidens. Speaking of which, he had met the Senator's sister, Sola Naberrie.

She gave him a charming smile (well, at least he knew why Anakin was in love with her), ' Enchanted to meet you, Padawan Dume.' She returned her attention to Obi-wan, ' Well, Obi-wan... What has happened? Is it Anakin?'

' Yes... Interesting things,' Obi-wan tried to go for a timid smile. ' Um, Anakin _actually_ confessed his marriage to you in front of the Council.'

Her hand flew to her mouth automatically, ' What? Why... Would he do that?'

' He feels like he has finished his job at the Order,' Obi-wan sighed dramatically. ' And he thinks there is no way to hide his secret now that he is going to be a father. He wants to be with you.'

' Oh, that idiot,' She muttered angrily. ' So now what?'

' The Council wants to give him a fair Trial,' Obi-wan said.

She scoffed, ' A fair Trial, huh? Look at what happened to Ahsoka's Trial.'

Obi-wan said earnestly, ' The Council is deeply sorry for what happened to Ahsoka, well, the result really was unintended. But I can guarantee that Anakin's trial will be fair and square. He is even allowed a defence team. I daresay there is hope for him.'

Padme didn't look very convinced, but she sighed in the end, ' Come in, and we will talk. 3PO, prepare some tea and snacks for our guests.'

 **Haha, I pulled an X File reference up there XD**

 **Well, my friend and I were talking about who Rey's parents were. I noticed most people were convinced she was a Skywalker or a Kenobi. But I was like, ' Why can't Rey be Rey? Just Rey. She doesn't necessarily have to be related to anyone, really. She can just be awesome all by her own.' What do you guys think? :)**


	49. Chapter 49

**200 reviews! XDDDDDDDDDDDDD Thanks so much everyone!**

 **You know, I always like reading reviews! :D Even though I rarely say that, feel free to review! :)))**

3PO clumsily brought out expensive tea and really fancy cakes. Even though Caleb was very hungry, he didn't touch the lovely cakes, as he thought it was kind of awkward. So he tried to drown his hunger by listening to Obi-wan talk to Senator Amidala, er Padme. She made Caleb call her Padme when he tried to call her 'My Lady' or 'Senator'.

' Did Captain Rex and his men agree to help?' She asked anxiously.

' Yes,' Obi-wan nodded, and he opened up a floating holo document. Caleb leant forward and squinted at it to make out the ridiculously tiny words. ' Rex is going to represent the 501st and present himself in front of the Council for Anakin. But he is also kind enough to write an appeal letter for his other brothers to sign. Look.'

It was a very long letter. Not bothering to read the details, Obi-wan scrolled through the document. Right under Rex's very tidy signature, there were all the signatures of the 501st, and even the League of Commanders. Caleb smiled, as he identified each of the signatures.

The very untidy scrawl belonged to Kix the medic. The loopy signature belonged to Fives. And then, Obi-wan's own Commander also signed, right under Coric's signature, and his handwriting was unusually neat. And he had no idea his own Commander Grey agreed to sign as well, and his signature was in a beautiful cursive.

' That's... Very nice of Rex and the men,' Padme commented, obviously relieved. She had always liked the 501st and Anakin always spoke highly of his men.

Obi-wan said, ' I was surprised at how many people supported Anakin. Luminara Unduli, Aayla Secura, Quinlan Vos, Tera Sinube and a few others chipped in for an appeal letter too. Professor Huyang wanted to help as well, but well, he is a droid... Soooo...' Caleb almost giggled at that. He remembered the fussy droid all too well. He nearly tripped over the poor old droid when he was on his Gathering.

' Young Caleb will do his part as well,' Obi-wan gestured to Caleb kindly.

' I will try my best,' Caleb bowed.

Padme nodded, ' That's very kind of you, Caleb. Though... Is there anyone else willing to help with the defence? Anyone perhaps?'

Caleb pondered for a moment, before the answer came to him. It was so, so, so obvious! ' Oh yes, there is,' Caleb cried out loud. ' Oh, yes! A very special somebody.'

Obi-wan and Padme raised their eyebrows. ' Who?' Padme asked anxiously.

' You'll see,' Caleb smiled and pulled out his comlink. He typed in the familiar number, and the call was picked up on the fourth set of rings.

' Hello?' Ahsoka said tiredly. ' What happened, Caleb?'

Padme nearly squealed with excitement when she heard Ahsoka's voice, and Obi-wan actually looked quite happy. Before Caleb could reply, unfortunately though, the all-time fussy 3PO was behind them at the time.

' Oh, Padawan Tano?' 3PO spun around quickly, which was quite hard seeing that his movements were clumsy. ' I hear Padawan Tano's voice! Oh, is she here? Mistress Padme, I heard Padawan Tano's voice!' Caleb seriously wanted to send the droid away, though it was true he was quite used to 3PO. That golden droid used to follow him around in the Yavin Temple, asking him to eat more fruit.

Ahsoka said in amazement, ' Was that... 3PO? You there, Caleb?'

' I am,' Caleb said.

' That was 3PO, Senator Amidala's protocol droid,' Ahsoka wasn't going to drop the matter. ' Where _are_ you now? What are you doing?'

' You are right, it is 3PO. And I am er, at Senator Amidala's apartment with Master Kenobi,' Caleb glanced at 3PO, who was trying to listen to what Ahsoka was saying.

Ahsoka sighed, ' Oh, that's not good. Skyguy's in huge trouble, isn't he?'

Obi-wan joined in, ' Yes, he is. Nice to hear your voice again, Ahsoka.'

She sounded rather excited, ' Hello, Master Obi-wan! I'll have to say the same. I'm sorry for not keeping in touch, you know, I don't have my old comlink anymore and I kinda forgot most of the numbers of my contacts.'

' You could always find us,' Padme chuckled. ' You know where I live!'

' Padme!' She shrieked in delight. ' How are you? It's lovely to hear your voice again.' Then, her tone became rather severe, ' Tell me. What kind of trouble is he trapped in right now? Has he somehow got himself stranded on Nal Hutta or trapped from head to toe in sand that gets everywhere? I know he hates sand. I knew when I pranked him by scattering sand on his bed on April Fool's Day.'

' Worse,' Obi-wan shook his head. ' You should come over to Senator Amidala's apartment. We can talk.'

' Okay,' Ahsoka said.

' I'll pick you up,' Caleb volunteered enthusiastically, but when Obi-wan eyed him suspiciously, he sighed, ' I want to buy some cookies on my way back.'

Obi-wan groaned, ' Go ahead, but don't loiter! We don't have all day.'

* * *

It was simply astonishing how the Senator revived perfectly at the sight of the former Jedi Padawan. She squealed, acted like a mother and hugged Ahsoka when they appeared at the door, and ushered them inside so they could have cake.

Ahsoka bowed politely at Obi-wan, and he did the same. It was true both of them felt awkward at first sight, but after a conversation or two, they warmed up to each other wonderfully. When Ahsoka was tucking into one of the nice looking chocolate cakes (she hadn't had those for ages, Coruscant under streets food are not always delicious, and sometimes when she thought about it over a horrible bowl of greyish oatmeal, she wouldn't even say no to Anakin's cooking), Caleb surrendered and got himself a piece of cream cake.

It was delicious.

' Why Ahsoka,' Padme was saying. ' You have grown thinner! And look... Are you even getting enough sleep? Tell me, now! And have some more tea.' Obi-wan smiled over the rim of his teacup. Padme would be a really caring mother.

' It's alright, but I need to work extra hard in order to earn enough money,' Ahsoka shrugged lightly. ' It's nothing, really. War life is more hectic. So, what's happening to Anakin again?'

Sighing, Obi-wan allowed Caleb to explain everything. Now, Ahsoka was upset. ' Oh, no,' She said. ' After what Skyguy has done for them... They are going to expel him?'

' No, I don't think Master Windu wants to expel him directly,' Obi-wan frowned. ' Anakin didn't want a Trial, but we insisted on giving him one. At least he has, er, a chance of winning the case, and maybe the Council will even pardon his breaches in the Code. It's up to you, Ahsoka, whether you want to help.'

' Are you kidding me?' She laughed. ' Of course I want to help him! What do I have to do?'

' Make a speeeeeeeeech,' Caleb said dramatically.

' Oh, okay,' Ahsoka nodded. ' Speeches are fine for me, I guess. Anything to note?'

' Er, tell the Council why you think Anakin should remain even if he breached the Code, and solutions to the problem,' Obi-wan said. ' That's the standard thing to do.'

Ahsoka cracked her knuckles evilly, ' I will, but I might add something. Something I'd like to say to the Council. Don't worry, I'll have my speech prepared by the date of the Trial. So, I'll rendezvous with you guys outside of the Temple? Is that okay? Because I don't think the Guards will let me in.'

' Don't be silly, they recognise you,' Caleb said.

Ahsoka said darkly, ' I don't want to take risks. I'm not quite sure if I want them threatening to poke their lightsaber pikes at my back and muttering "Cease hostilities" all the time.'

' Okay sure, we'll definitely pick you up,' Caleb said, flummoxed.

Obi-wan agreed happily at once, happy to know that they had gained yet another trusty ally.

* * *

' You are making me nervous, kid,' Rex muttered to Caleb.

Caleb had been absent-mindedly poking his scrambled eggs around his plate for the last hour, feeling too queasy and sick to eat anything. He was actually feeling so insecure, he was sitting close to the 501st at lunch, while trying to go over the speech he had prepared in his head.

' I didn't know you could be nervous,' Caleb said in surprise. ' You and your men run around on Separatist battlefields all the time, and I had the impression that you aren't terrified of anything.'

' Yeah, but you are driving me crazy,' Rex groaned. ' I don't need to be a Jedi to sense your nerves.'

The other men were too nervous about the Trial to eat anything as well. ' The other Jedi are talking about it,' Appo commented. ' I am hearing rumours all about it when I came here this morning.'

' Who's going to be the first to defend?' Jesse put down the small bit of bread he had been nibbling.

' Me,' Caleb said miserably, and spooned the eggs into his mouth.

' Aw, you'll be fine,' Coric tried to comfort him. ' It actually not that terrifying.'

Caleb was literally tearing his hair out, ' Yeah? What if I stutter? What if I trip? What if I forget what I want to say? What if Master Windu glares at me? And what if I fall asleep-'

' You won't fall asleep,' Kix rolled his eyes.

Caleb was about to fire back a retort, when Obi-wan walked up to them, and tapped Caleb on the shoulder, ' Caleb, it's time. You need to report to the Council immediately.' And he nodded at Rex, ' Captain, you are next. I'll call for you when Caleb is almost done.'

He jumped out his seat, and sulkily followed Obi-wan. ' Don't worry, Caleb,' Obi-wan said lightly, sensing the boy's distress. ' You'll be fine.'

' Where is the, er, Trial held?'

' Council Chambers,' Obi-wan answered.

' What? I thought it was going to be held in the judgement chambers, you know, the one where Ahsoka stood trial in,' Caleb gulped.

' I have no idea,' Obi-wan shrugged. ' The Council wishes to hold the Trial there, oh, here we are.' The Council doors were closed. ' Go in.'

' Aren't you going in as well, Master Kenobi?' He pleaded.

' I will, after I pick up Ahsoka,' Obi-wan promised. ' Don't be afraid. Now, get in.'

Caleb took a shaky breath (his legs were wobbly), and opened the door.

 **Next chapter: Caleb defends Anakin... In a rather interesting way.**

 **Hint: Rancors.**


	50. Chapter 50

**Whoop whoop Chapter 50! XD**

Suddenly, he was in the middle of the room. And the fact so many eyes were staring at him weirdly disturbed him, but he stood straight, and tried to put up the bravest expression possible. It was the first time he stood in the centre to address the Council without his Master standing by his side, so he was very nervous about it. Maybe Master Windu would cut him some slack, seeing that he was his grand Padawan.

Most of the Council members were present (Obi-wan's seat was empty, of course), and sitting at the far corner on a plain wooden seat, was Anakin. He gave him a light-hearted smirk. Caleb simply took it as encouragement.

His own Master was peering at him intently, almost curious at what her Apprentice was going to say.

 _Caleb, I hope you know what you are doing,_ came her calm and serene voice through their Force bond.

 _Of course, Master,_ he answered.

 _Speak when only spoken to,_ she reminded him, _and be polite._

Yoda pointed his stick at Caleb, ' Padawan Dume, very nice to see you, it is. Speak to the Council on behalf of Skywalker, you can, now.'

Caleb took another deep breath, and shouted (to many Masters' surprise and Anakin's embarrassment), ' Um, I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT RANCORS.'

' Excuse me?' Master Mundi reeled back, totally shocked by Caleb's sudden change of behaviour. Master Billaba looked as if she wanted to faint.

The boy coughed and repeated his demand. This time, he was starting to grow more confident.

' Forgive me, Masters,' He puffed out his chest. ' I am here for the defence of Master Anakin Skywalker. I will indeed be talking about rancors, but first, I want to voice out my demand. We need to change the Jedi Code.'

Anakin was nearly face-palming himself. What had Caleb done when Obi-wan asked him for a defence speech? Instead of arguing cleverly to let Anakin stay in the Order, Caleb had voiced a near-impossible demand. Fortunately, Yoda didn't seem to be affected or shocked by his sudden demand, which was probably a good sign.

' Interesting,' The Grandmaster said thoughtfully. ' Why is that, Padawan?'

' I have come to realise that we should not decide against something without thinking of why we disagree with it. I mean, attachments might not be that bad,' He gestured around wildly. ' For example, I used to think Language classes are boring and kind of useless. But when I studied it closely, I realised... Language classes are not as boring as I thought. They are rather interesting and important. Or... Rancors!'

 _Ah, no,_ Anakin groaned inwardly, knowing where the disastrous defence was heading towards. _Here we go._

' Rancors?' Kit Fisto asked interestedly.

' Yes!' Caleb brightened up. ' Rancors! Master Skywalker thinks rancors are horrible creatures, but I'm sure if he gets to know more about rancors, he would agree with me on how lovely and adorably tame rancors are-'

' That is not the point here,' Windu interrupted, anxious to go back to the Trial, but at the same time, he seriously wanted to sidetrack and question the kid whether he was really talking about that huge, man crushing creature.

' It is, it is!' Caleb cried. ' If we learn to accept attachments, we might notice they are not that bad! Master Skywalker is a good demonstration to that. Yes, he has married, but he is still a wonderful Jedi. That means we could all get married, and still be a wonderful Jedi! Furthermore, Master Skywalker has helped us so much. He brought balance to the Force. Does it seem fit to expel him just because of a single Code that dates back to many centuries ago? I don't think so.' He bowed forward to show his respect. ' That's all I have to say.'

He blushed some more, and exited the room without looking at the Council members' reactions.

* * *

' Oh, you are done!' Obi-wan was standing outside with Rex by his side.

' I thought you would come in!' Caleb muttered. ' Great. I think I messed up.'

' Oh no, of course you didn't,' Rex patted him on his back.

' I'm sure you did great. Now, come with me and Rex. You'd want to listen to the rest of the Trial.'

' What about Ahsoka?' Caleb asked. ' I thought you said you were going to pick her up somewhere at the gates.'

' Yes I did,' He nodded. ' She is now having a walk around the Temple. I will give her a signal when it is her turn. Though, try not to give away who the third defence is. I told the Council it is a "special, secret somebody".'

' I will not,' Caleb promised. ' Are we getting in?'

* * *

Rex did a remarkably good job in front of the Council. Anakin couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the signed document that Rex held up. His men had been so kind to help him out. For that, he was grateful.

Rex elaborated wisely on how Anakin worked well in the GAR, and he should be allowed to remain in the Order despite the breaches in the Code. He had to admit Rex's arguments were, er, slightly more normal compared to Caleb, but he appreciated their efforts.

' Therefore, I think General Skywalker should be allowed to remain in service at the Jedi Order,' Rex bowed to the Council. ' I think that's the end of my speech. I hope you can all consider my opinions.'

Yoda nodded approvingly, ' Thank you, good Captain. Intermission, I believe, it is. Have a rest, you all can. Return to this room after half an hour, you should. Then listen to the third and final defence speech, we will.'

' Who will do the final defence?' Ki-Adi Mundi asked curiously.

' That,' Obi-wan said. ' Is a secret. You will know, eventually.'

The other Masters bent forward to stare at him weirdly, but didn't say anything else.

* * *

' THAT WAS EXHAUSTING,' Anakin shouted, and accepted the glass of juice from Obi-wan.

' You basically did nothing!' Obi-wan exclaimed, as he watched Anakin gulp down the ice cold beverage. ' You just sat there and listened to the speeches. How in the Force could you be exhausted?'

' It was _mentally_ exhausting,' Anakin corrected haughtily.

Rex knew better than to argue with his General, ' Whatever you say, General.'

They were all lounging at the training grounds, just under that large Force-sensitive tree. It didn't necessarily bring up good memories (Anakin winced when he remembered his duel with Barriss), but Anakin allowed himself to relax under the pleasant shades. Caleb was sipping a glass of iced caff calmly.

' Okay, then,' Obi-wan said. ' We should get ready for the third and final part of the Trial. Are you ready?'

' Yes I am,' Anakin put down the empty drink at his feet. ' But who is that _oh so mysterious_ person, so important that not even the Council knows of his or her identity?'

' We'll see,' Rex and Caleb chorused harmoniously.

' Ugh,' Anakin grunted, and crossed his arms. ' I have had enough of those stupid secrets. Why is it always me who is kept in the dark?' Obi-wan flinched. Guess Anakin was still slightly disgruntled about the whole Rako Hardeen thing. He thought he was long forgiven when Anakin took to laughing and making fun of his beard-less face until he finally grew it back. It was terrible enough for Obi-wan, as the Holonet reporters had a wonderful time making ridiculous articles about ' _The Negotiator shaving off his beard: a new fashion statement!'_ or ' _The great Negotiator starts off a new trend?',_ and it was rumoured that people started copying him and shaved off their beards.

' No more secrets,' Caleb promised.

' And you,' Anakin turned to Caleb with mild annoyance. ' No more rancors!'

Caleb pouted, but didn't say anything.

Obi-wan pulled out his comlink to Anakin, and smirked knowingly at his former Padawan,' That reminds me. Your lovely wife is very _worried_ about your trial. You had better call her to tell her that you are okay.' Fortunately, being the dense man he was, Anakin didn't notice his smirk, beamed at him, and hid behind the tree to call Padme.

' Phew,' Caleb said. ' He still doesn't know who we invited to the Trial? Seriously? Who else could it be?'

' Well, that's pretty hard to guess,' Rex pointed out.

' Who else?' Obi-wan laughed. ' Asajj Ventress? Jabba the Hutt?'

' Perhaps Jar Jar Binks?' Caleb suggested.

Rex shuddered at the thought and imagined the Gungan saying loudly, ' _Mesa representing Ani! Mesa the defence! Yousa better not expel Ani, or else yousa in big dudu! How wude of you to think of expelling Ani!_ ' It didn't improve his appetite.

' Speaking of Ahsoka,' Caleb looked behind nervously to check if Anakin was listening (he wasn't). ' When will she show up?'

' I shall give her a signal,' Obi-wan poked at his own personal comlink tied around his wrist. ' I bet she is lurking nearby, so it won't take long.' They remained silent, until Anakin finished with his call and sauntered up to them.

' It's about time,' Obi-wan got up to his feet. ' Let's go.'

' Well,' Anakin rolled his eyes. ' I _can't wait_ to see who the third defence is. I hope it is not Jar Jar. Or Count Dooku.' Rex and Caleb chuckled softly, and followed him.

* * *

' Welcome back,' Yoda said.

Anakin was yet again seated on the simple chair, while Rex and Caleb stood next to him, too anxious to sit.

' Where is the third person?' Windu looked around, as if expecting the 'said person' to materialise out of thin air on the spot.

Obi-wan coughed, ' Yes. She should be around.'

 _She?_ Came Anakin's dubious voice through their Force bond. _Who? Ventress?_

 _Shut up,_ Obi-wan sent back grumpily (unable to believe how dense Anakin really was).

' Send her in, you should, Master Kenobi,' Yoda nodded encouragingly at Obi-wan.

' Yes, Master,' Obi-wan answered respectfully, and poked at his comlink decisively, not before sending a knowing wink at Rex and Caleb. Caleb winked back and Rex did an 'okay' hand sign.

Within a matter of seconds, the door of the Council chambers slid open, and a smiling Ahsoka Tano swept in confidently.

' Miss me?'

 **Well, this is technically not a cliffhanger (I guess) so...**

 ***dodges virtual cookies***

 **Here's a 'Me and Star Wars' to cheer you guys up:**

 **(Background: I was at a classmate's home for a cooking project, and I was assigned to cut vegetables for the appetiser)**

 **Classmate #1: Hey, you have to cut the bell peppers and this nice avocado over here.**

 **Classmate #2: And ooh, don't forget the jalapeño pepper. Yes. Remember to remove the seeds.**

 **Me: Er, but I don't know how to cut a jalapeño pepper. I have never tried cutting one.**

 **Classmate #1: You'll be fine. In that case... Let's begin! *runs off to season the chicken***

 **Me: *stares at the jalapeño and talks to myself* OKAY! HERE I GO. I'll try- No! I can't try! DO OR DO NOT THERE IS NO TRY OKAY? I WILL cut this jalapeño- no way it sounds too confident... Maybe I'll try-No- Augh! ARGH! AUUUUUGH!**

 **Classmate #2: Stop that! You are stressing yourself out! Just chop it in half and start working on the avocado!**

 **Me: But I. Can't!**

 ***in the end, after struggling for minutes, I managed to chop up the jalapeño thanks to Yoda***


	51. Chapter 51

*** looks up for any more virtual cookies*** **Is it safe yet?**

 **Yes. XD Sorry about that cliffhanger. So without further ado, here we go!**

 **Note: I am terrible at writing arguments. Soooooo if it doesn't sound convincing... :P**

Caleb smiled and watched the people's reactions of Ahsoka's appearance gleefully.

She had ditched her plain working tunic and pants, and went for her old Jedi uniform instead (in hopes to be presentable). The akul tooth headdress, sleeveless tunic, leggings, armbands, boots, gloves, plus that confident smirk and all, except for her lightsabers. It was almost like she had never left the Order at all.

Plo Koon's holo sat up hopefully, and Yoda actually looked pleasantly surprised. Windu and the other Masters gaped in astonishment. Obi-wan and Rex grinned serenely, and oh rancors. Look at Anakin's face. His face was a broad spectrum of shock, happiness and relief. And his delighted emotions were simply broadcasting through the Force, he was so sure the other Jedi in the Temple would be knocked off their feet and not knowing where all this happiness came from.

' Masters,' She cleared her throat. ' I am here to speak for Master Anakin Skywalker.'

' Why...' Windu stuttered. ' Padawan Tano, you-'

She said cheerfully, ' Well, I am afraid that I am no Jedi. Strictly speaking, it's former Padawan Tano. But that's a bit of a mouthful. You could call me Ms. Tano. I wouldn't say no to _Lady Tano_ either.' She added when everyone looked at her weirdly, ' Some of my customers call me Lady Tano.'

' I'm rather interested why you are here, Ms Tano,' Windu said, apparently avoiding the use of 'Lady Tano'.

' Me?' She smirked. ' I'm just here as a normal civilian, you know, a friend of Master Skywalker's. Now... To begin with. My demand is simple. You just need to change the Jedi Code.'

' See?' Caleb whispered to Rex. ' I think like Ahsoka!'

She didn't really give the chance for Yoda or Windu or any other Masters to say anything, ' Attachments. Attachments. Attachments. I have been thinking about this ever since I was assigned to Master Skywalker. I once voiced out this question to Master Aayla Secura, when we were stranded on the Lurmen planet. How could it be that the Jedi are expected to be compassionate, yet attachments are forbidden? It doesn't really work this way, at least from my experience.'

' Now,' She said. ' The Jedi believe _attachments lead to the Dark Side,_ so they try everything to ban attachments because they don't want to turn to the Dark Side.' Then she paused dramatically, ' But. Has anyone ever thought that by banning attachments and doing all those stuff to prevent anyone from turning to the Dark Side, such act is actually pushing people to the Dark Side?' Cue the dubious looks.

' I have done my research,' She gestured around confidently. ' Count Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, used to belong in the Jedi Order. But why did he actually join the Dark Side? That's kind of because of his former Padawan, Master Qui-gon Jinn. Now, I don't mean to bring up any sad memories, Master Kenobi, but I feel like I should say that. I'm sure Count Dooku had attachments on Master Qui-gon. When he died, no offence, I don't think any of the Jedi provided sufficient comfort to him. So that was why he took the drastic move to leave the Order.'

' That-' Ki-Adi Mundi tried to interrupt, but Ahsoka cut him short.

' Also I made an in-depth research. I was able to download the transmissions from that anonymous holo message the other day,' She invented creatively. ' It was actually encrypted with a huge transmission, and with my hacking skills, I managed to download the entire file and view it.' The Council members looked at each other in amazement.

The truth was much simpler, however. Caleb had simply sent _all_ the data he took from Palpatine's file to Ahsoka, but begged her not to disclose the details.

' When I opened the file, I was horrified,' She stated. ' In it, were elaborate plans of how to turn the Chosen One to the Dark Side and have him turn against the Jedi.' Startled gasps erupted from the room. Anakin knew it, but he couldn't help but pale a little.

' All I have to say is that, if the Sith Lord wasn't vanquished, and if you expelled Anakin from the Order, he might just turn to Palpatine for help, which means... The Sith will rule the galaxy,' Ahsoka crossed her arms. ' That's why. The no-attachment rule turns Jedi against each other. How could there be trust between each other when basic attachments were not allowed? The Jedi have so little trust between each other, that they even accused their own of something they didn't do.' She paused and surveyed the room with her blue eyes, however, she looked more amused than angry. The other Jedi bowed their heads at realisation. Her departure was still a rather sore topic.

Her gaze then softened, ' Not going to lie, I miss being a Jedi. I really do. The Jedi are like my family. But I seriously don't agree with you on the no-attachment part. If things go on like that, the Jedi will start fighting against each other. So, Council members, I plead you to reconsider your decision of expelling Master Skywalker. We are family, aren't we?'

The silence was deafening, in Caleb's ears. He was holding his breath without realising, and he reckoned his ears were ringing like crazy.

After what seemed like forever, Master Yoda said, ' Hmm. Much to meditate on, we have. Thank you, Ahsoka. Dismissed, you all are. Give out the results tomorrow, we shall.'

Council members started to file out of the room in an orderly fashion. Caleb reached out to tap Ahsoka on the shoulder before Anakin could do anything, and smiled, ' You two have lots to talk about.'

Anakin literally threw his arms around his former Padawan. Ahsoka was hesitant at first (much thanks to the many years of no-attachments, and well frankly, she wasn't quite used to hugging anyone), but she hugged him back.

' Ahsoka,' He murmured. ' I'm so glad you are back.'

' I have to be back for you,' She said. ' Can't have them expel you. Now...' She pulled away and proceeded to scream at Anakin for five minutes straight.

' HOW COULD YOU, YOU IDIOT? YOU HAVE BEEN MARRIED? OHO! OHO! I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING DUBIOUS GOING ON WITH YOU, BUT I NEVER INVESTIGATED! I KNEW IT! ONLY YOU COULD PULL OFF A MOVE LIKE THAT. AND WANTING TO GET EXPELLED FROM THE ORDER? HOW COULD YOU- BLA BLA BLA BLA-' And you know the rest.

Obi-wan, Rex and Caleb just stood there with stupid grins plastered onto their faces, watching the show with mild interest.

' Now I got to come back and save your skin!' Ahsoka ranted. ' But well, as I said, I'll always help you, Skyguy.'

' That's good to know,' Anakin said, obviously relieved and immediately, he lapsed into his over-protective, 'freak' mode. ' Ahsoka, you look horribly thin! Have you been eating enough? Where do you live? Oh Sith, don't tell me you are living in those tiny apartments in the lower levels! You could be mugged, you know! A young lady like you should know that.'

Ahsoka pinched her elbow gingerly, ' Am I really that thin? Padme said the same, you know. Well, I do eat, you know. Just not that much.'

' Not that much?' Anakin said, aghast. ' Is that because you don't have enough credits? You should have called me for help! I could offer your credits, maybe buy you a house and help you find a nice job-'

' That's quite enough,' Obi-wan coughed. ' I know you are delighted by Ahsoka's arrival, but your crazy over-protectiveness isn't helping. Now let poor Ahsoka go, and we should go somewhere else to talk.'

* * *

Anakin was so happy. He was so happy he could literally fly.

Caleb, Rex, Obi-wan, Ahsoka and him were walking around the Jedi Temple, laughing about Ahsoka's experiences in the lower levels. It was almost like a family, except Padme wasn't here. If Padme and his children were here, Anakin thought, it would be a perfect family.

Also, news of Ahsoka's return to the Temple had spread through the Temple and the clone barracks like wildfire. Apparently, the cheerful Kit Fisto (who was secretly on their side, but like Obi-wan, he couldn't be biased) went around to tell his men and then his commander spread the news to the 501st, who cheered, clapped and screamed like maniacs.

The moment Katooni got wind of Ahsoka's return, she pulled along Petro and the others to find Ahsoka. They yelled in excitement and took turns in hugging Ahsoka. Like small chattering birds, they surrounded Ahsoka, asking where she lived, and how was her life. Ahsoka was happy to answer.

Then, once they left (reluctantly), Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli and Tera Sinube were walking towards them. Aayla had cheerfully wished Anakin 'good luck', and welcomed Ahsoka back. Luminara bowed her head apologetically at Ahsoka, but she waved her off. Tera Sinube simply smiled at Ahsoka warmly.

' Gee, you are famous now,' Anakin sighed dramatically, once Aayla, Luminara and Tera were away. ' Everyone knows you are back.'

' Of course,' Caleb tried not to smile. ' Who doesn't know Ahsoka Tano?'

' Wow, I feel flattered,' Ahsoka put a hand over heart.

Obi-wan was beside them, scrolling down his data pad, ' Well, let's hope for the best. I'm sure all of you did your best.'

' Nonsense,' Ahsoka said. ' They will let Anakin stay.

' I wouldn't be so sure about that,' Anakin said darkly.

Caleb shrugged, ' Have some optimism, dude.'

 **Hint for next chapter: (stating the overly obvious) The result of Anakin's trial. XD**

 **Wow, I was so stressed out these days. I had to write a giant proposal, finish a project, and revise for my exams all at once. :/**

 **Guess Fanfiction is the highlight of the day.**


	52. Chapter 52

Anakin was awfully upset and reluctant when Ahsoka left to go back home. But she had promised to meet up with all of them the next day in Padme's apartment, regardless of the result by the Council. Throughout her visit, he had strongly (but secretly) hinted about whether she would return to him, but he had no idea if she noticed. Even if she did notice, she didn't make any attempt to answer and was dancing around to avoid it.

' Snips has grown up to be such a young lady,' He complained to Obi-wan after Ahsoka was gone. ' What happened to that snippy youngling who walked off the ramp on Christophsis? I'm feeling old.'

Obi-wan stroked his beard serenely, ' Right you are. Hello, Old Man Skywalker.'

' Old Man Kenobi!' Anakin whacked Obi-wan lightly on the shoulder, and turned to Rex, ' Thank you, Captain, for helping me out. It has been a long day, so you should probably go back to the barracks and rest.'

' I have to help you, General Skywalker,' Rex said dutifully. ' But I don't think I could properly rest. I bet you ten credits that Fives and the others would be badgering me non-stop about the Trial, now that they know Commander Tano has returned to the Temple. Hopefully they wouldn't do anything crazy, or else I would have to use up my sandwich.'

' Sandwich?' Caleb asked interestedly.

' N-nothing.'

Obi-wan told Caleb kindly, ' And Padawan, you have done well today. You should probably return to your Master before she worries.'

Caleb beamed, and dashed away in great speed, but almost tripped over the carpet.

' So,' Obi-wan said after Caleb was out of sight (once again tripping on the carpet before disappearing around the corner).' Let's have dinner outside.'

' Are you paying?' Anakin raised an eyebrow.

' Yep,' Obi-wan said enthusiastically at the mention of food.' Dex's Diner. We haven't had a nerf steak burger for ages.'

' And the chocolate milkshake surprise with extra toppings,' Anakin said longingly. ' Dex always gives us that extra scoop of ice-cream.'

' Great! Let's go!'

* * *

Caleb was terribly sleepy. The night before, he was in such a good mood (his Master praised him for being a good speaker, except for the part about rancors) that he watched ten episodes of a TV series late into the night. It was some kind of comedy about creatures that could talk. He had no idea what the creatures were, but well, they were funny. Only when he realised in horror it was 3:30 am, he went to bed.

Grey must have walked past him for several times, trying to catch his attention, but Caleb was just looking past him as if he didn't exist.

' Here,' Appo cheerfully passed him a mug of steaming hot caff across the breakfast table. ' It will help with the sleepiness. Look, Rex is having some too.'

Caleb drowsily stared across the table, and for sure, Rex was also clutching a mug of caff between his hands, nearly dozing off, and Coric snapped his fingers sharply under his nose to wake him up. He took a sip of the creamy hot liquid, and shivered as the caffeine started working its 'magical' powers.

' What happened to him?' Caleb asked, feeling lots better after having another generous sip of his drink.' He looks as if he hasn't slept at all.'

' Er,' Kix said, sounding slightly embarrassed. ' Since... We kept badgering him all night about the Trial... Plus Cody and Wolffe kind of threw a late night party in the corridors, sooooooooo...'

' And Fox actually approved?' Caleb said, amazed. He remembered Grey telling him all about that stern clone commander.

' Oh yes he did,' Fives munched on a piece of toast. ' He was the DJ. I think he has been more lenient ever since you know, wrongly accusing Commander Tano of her crime.'

' But... if you people have been asking Rex questions all night,' Caleb frowned. ' Then... this means you guys haven't slept at all as well! But again... you aren't as sleepy as Rex. How could that be?'

Jesse raised his mug of hot chocolate airily, ' Practice, my friend. We often go to 79's for partying all night, and the next morning, we are able to get out to missions without sleeping. But not dear Captain Rex. He rarely goes partying! He likes staying in the barracks to watch his favourite shows and doesn't like loud music. No fun.'

' Ah, I see,' Caleb giggled.

On the other end of the table, Appo wrenched the untouched mug of caff that was beginning to cool down from Rex's hand and refilled it. ' Goodness Rex!' He thrusted the mug into Rex's hand. ' Drink up!'

The poor captain muttered something like 'Roger roger', and downed the caff in one go.

' Oh,' Appo said worriedly. ' He's starting to become a battle droid.'

' Let him be,' Kix said nonchalantly. ' Sleep deprivation often has strange effects on us clones.'

' Really?' Fives said excitedly. ' What effects?'

' Dunno,' Kix said. ' I have heard cases of clones sleep walking all the way to battle.'

' No way! That's dangerous!' Caleb's eyes widened. ' Though-'

' It's almost time kid,' Rex said with a disgruntled expression. It looked like the caffeine was working wonders on him.

' Good morning, Rex!' The 501st chirruped in unison.

Rex shot them an exasperated look, picked up his painted helmet and led Caleb out of the breakfast hall. ' We are going to pick up General Skywalker and General Kenobi,' Rex said. ' And we shall all go off to the Council Room to listen to the result. I am very nervous about it.'

' Oh, he will be fine,' Caleb looked down at his boots.

* * *

' He hasn't called,' Padme was clutching her comlink anxiously, and pacing around the room non-stop. ' Has something gone wrong?'

Ahsoka was following the Senator around, trying to get her to calm down and sit. The healthcare Jedi Master had once told her a thing or two about pregnant women, but she had only listened with half an ear, since she thought it would be useless. Jedi weren't supposed to be pregnant. Okay. Did she mention that pregnant ladies should always sit? Dunno.

3PO was making the situation more distressing by fussing after them, asking if they wanted tea.

' I don't want tea, 3PO,' Padme groaned, sending the droid away. ' Can you, er, just go into the kitchen?'

' Of course, Mistress Padme,' 3PO bobbed and walked awkwardly to the kitchen.

' He'll be fine, Padme,' Ahsoka said helplessly. ' Please sit down! You can't move around like that.'

' I can't,' She cried. ' Especially when Ani is in the danger of getting expelled...'

Padme's pessimistic moans were starting to affect Ahsoka's thoughts. She had no idea how, but she was thinking if the Council expelled Anakin, she would just march proudly into the Temple, and have some 'aggressive negotiations' as Anakin had always taught her. Oh yes, she would.

Possibly Padme was thinking of similar things, because they both jumped in surprise when the doorbell rang.

' I'll get it,' Ahsoka rushed to the door.

Caleb, Obi-wan, Rex and Anakin walked in, with their faces obviously grim. Uh-oh.

Ahsoka's face fell, ' Oh, um.'

' I'm sorry, Commander,' Rex was in his Captain-mode. ' But the Jedi Council... They...'

' Oh my,' Ahsoka was starting to fume. Great. She ought to make preparations of rushing into the Temple...

Padme had a hand over her mouth, ' Oh, Ani.'

' Anakin, I-'

' HA!' Anakin's grim face wore off and he bursted out laughing. ' Got you! Great news! I am NOT expelled!' Ahsoka and Padme froze, and his words began to sink into their minds.

' WHAT? You tricked me!' Ahsoka was angrier than ever, breathing heavily through her nose.

' I agree,' Padme nodded, even though she sounded relieved. ' That's not nice of you, Ani.'

' Don't look at me like that,' Caleb hid behind Rex, probably frightened by Ahsoka's murderous glare. ' It was Master Skywalker's idea. Don't hit me!'

After Padme and Ahsoka calmed down (though her fingers still itched to Force-choke or punch Anakin for tricking her like that), they settled down at the sitting room, while 3PO was finally allowed out of the kitchen to serve them drinks.

' So, what did they say?' Ahsoka said excitedly.

' They allow Anakin to stay in the Order,' Obi-wan accepted a glass of juice from 3PO. ' And they are also thinking of altering the Code!'

' Looks like Caleb's rancor speech, Rex's totally logical words and Ahsoka's examples worked wonders,' Anakin smiled at them.

' Yes it did,' Obi-wan blinked at his holopad. ' Hang on, they have just posted up the votes onto the Masters' system0'

' Masters' system?' Anakin looked revolted. ' Jedi Masters have a private group chat? What do you guys even do in there? Have selfies of them stroking their chins and looking serious?'

' Oh shut up,' Obi-wan looked up, annoyed. ' Look here...'

' I bet you ten credits that Windu voted against it,' Anakin crossed his arms. ' He hates me. And I bet you he likes R2 more than me.'

' Well, R2 did save him from the bounty hunters that time,' Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

' No,' Obi-wan looked up from his data pad. ' All of the Masters voted to let you stay in the Order, Master Windu included. Looks like we have them all convinced.'

' No waaaay! Ah, sorry, Padme,' Anakin spat out his drinks onto Padme's newly bought carpet. She winced but didn't say anything.

' Wonderful,' Caleb said dreamily. ' Attachments are allowed. Finally.'

Anakin finally got to ask Ahsoka, ' Look, Ahsoka, the Jedi Order is going to change. They are learning from their mistakes, and are trying to become a better Order. I just want to know, if you, er, you know, you will be coming back to the Order.'

Ahsoka hesitated, startled by his invitation. ' I will,' She said softly. ' One day. But not now. I still need some time to settle down. But rest assure, Anakin. I will always come back to you guys.'

He was almost giddy with excitement, ' Yes, of course, Ahsoka. Just so you know, Ahsoka, I will always welcome you back. You can come back anytime, just give me a call, and I'll tell the Council immediately.'

' Yes,' Obi-wan nodded. ' The Council will always welcome you back, after what you have done for them.'

' That's a comforting thought,' She chuckled. ' Now, let's toss Council business away. We should celebrate Anakin's, um, victory in the Trial!'

' We could,' Padme beamed. ' I know the right restaurant for that. You are all welcome to join in. And Caleb dear, if you want to go as well, I think you had better contact your Master to tell her about that.'

' Oh it's fine,' Caleb grinned. ' I told her I would be going back to the Temple late. Besides I got two Jedi Generals and a clone captain with me, so she shouldn't worry.'

' Great,' Rex said. ' Let's go! Senator Amidala, you lead the way.'

As they walked out of Padme's flat into the turbo lift, laughing and chatting, Anakin couldn't help but think:

 _Now that's a true, perfect family._

Luke and the others would be proud of him.

 **Yaaaay! *cookies in the air* :D**


	53. Chapter 53

**We are so close to the end D:**

 **There will be split universes in this chapter. So as to avoid confusion, the original 'un-altered' timeline shall be called OT (Original Timeline), and the new, changed timeline shall be called AT (Alternate Timeline).**

 _AT_

Everything was going wonderfully for the next few weeks.

It turned out the entire Temple was beginning to learn how to accept attachments. He walked past a couple Master-Padawan duos, and the Master was trying to explain 'attachments' to their Padawan. And Master Yoda was beginning to draft the new Jedi Code with the help of Master Jocasta Nu.

For Master Billaba, she was extremely pleased that her former Master was beginning to accept the new Jedi Code.

Master Secura was quite pleased with the new rule, because she could now visit her former Master (Quinlan Vos) without being afraid of breaking the attachment rule and bla bla bla.

Master Plo Koon returned from his mission, and was delighted to see his little Soka again.

Master Rig Nema worked hard with AZ-3, and removed all the chips from the clones' heads.

Master Ki-Adi Mundi was just relieved to be off that frigid planet and back to the warm Coruscant.

Generally, everyone's mood was better now that the war was finally over, and they had to get used to working in peace with each other.

As for Anakin... He couldn't be happier. He had just returned from a mission with the 501st (Ahsoka had agreed to help, but not as a Jedi Commander) to arrest the rest of the Separatist Council, and was spending his day-offs with his new-found family. Speaking of his family, Padme was nominated in the new Chancellor election.

And Caleb, well, he still had his final examinations going on, so he had to revise. His Master bribed him to work harder with packets of cookies everyday, and needless to say, it worked. And he had help. His friends rose to the challenge, and aided Caleb in his studies. Obi-wan gave him tips to ace his Language exam. Padme kindly gave him lessons on politics. Ahsoka and Anakin worked together to help him with his mechanics exam.

The night before the last examination (the much feared Language examination), he had a visitor.

He was just reading through the extra notes Obi-wan gave him, when a flare of red light appeared just behind him, and the ghostly apparition of the Son stepped out of it.

' Hey, Son!' Caleb said excitedly. ' Long time no see! I hope that your father and sister are well.'

The Son scowled, ' Apparently my sister asked me to come and visit you.'

' Nice,' He beamed. ' Have you come to offer me a pet rancor?'

' No. In fact, she has asked me to tell you that your plan worked perfectly. Now your timeline and the _other_ timeline are able to exist separately,' He said in a bored tone. ' And she is currently at the future timeline, talking to the son of the Chosen One.'

' Sooooooo,' Caleb said. ' Both timelines can exist together? No the-world-is-going-to-die or endless chaos?'

' I hate to admit it, but yes,' The Son sighed dejectedly. ' I love chaos though. Bye then. I hope we won't see each other again in the future.'

Caleb muttered under his breath as the Son vanished, ' Oh, how rude.'

Oh well, he had other things to worry about. He decided to speak to Anakin about the Son's visit, maybe after his Language exam.

He stretched his legs and began to write.

* * *

 _OT_

Anakin and Caleb had been gone for such a long time. Luke was rather worried, as he didn't receive any news (Ghost-Anakin and Obi-wan weren't helping at all). He didn't know if he would actually receive something from the Force (they existed in a different timeline after all), but he still meditated a lot about it with Ahsoka and Kanan. Sometimes, Kanan reckoned he saw flashes like lightning in the Force.

' Don't worry, Luke,' Leia had told him. ' They will be alright. Anakin is strong.' Luke agreed with her, but he couldn't help but feel slightly afraid of what was happening in the past. What if Sidious managed to see through their tricks and ordered the clones to hunt them? What if Anakin joined the Dark Side in the end?

Then, Luke departed for a 'crystal-searching' mission with some of the more advanced younglings, and he forced himself to focus on the task ahead and forget about Anakin.

The others worked hard on Yavin, as the new Jedi Order was growing. More and more initiates arrived every week. Kanan and Ahsoka were already discussing of taking a Padawan. On the other hand, Ventress started teaching. She was a good, but strict teacher (as in Mace Windu level strict), however, the kids adored her.

Luke had just returned from his long trip to Yavin. Kanan allowed the younglings to run around happily with their newfound crystals (to all of the younglings' disappointment, they didn't find any white crystals), and Ventress would then instruct them on how to build their lightsaber.

Luke sat meditatively on a tree stump, and watched the kids yell and hop around.

An amused voice echoed around him, ' They surely are energetic children.'

Luke looked around for the source of the voice, and spotted the familiar green-haired lady standing next to him. She looked so real, but her flickering golden robes that billowed out said otherwise. Luke jumped in fright, ' M-my Lady! I didn't know you could travel around.'

She smiled thinly, ' Luke Skywalker, my powers can allow me to travel to the past, present or future. I am here to tell you that your Father and that little Padawan boy have succeeded. Their plan worked, the Sith is gone forever, and the past timeline is safe right now.'

Luke breathed out, ' That's... Wonderful!' Then he pleaded the Daughter to tell him more about what happened.

' The Jedi are now campaigning to change that no-attachment rule of theirs,' She wrinkled her nose. ' I have always thought it was a peculiar rule.'

Luke blinked, ' Why though?'

She shrugged, ' I am the embodiment of the Light side. I _know_ what makes someone abandon the Light and go to the Dark Side. It's just attachments don't directly bring people to the Dark Side.'

' Oh.'

' So I'm rather glad they are going to discard that rule. Anyways, your mom is pregnant, Separatists are arrested, and oh, your Father may have succeeded in asking Ahsoka back to the Order,' She said. ' Most important of all, this current timeline and that altered past timeline will be able to exist together, but separately. Isn't that great?'

Luke said, relieved, ' Yes, it is. But... Will we be able to see Anakin and Caleb again?'

' It's possible,' She tiled her head slightly. ' But I don't expect that to happen anytime. Now, if you don't have anymore questions, I had better find my brother, in case he decides he would like to wreck havoc in the timelines. The last thing I need would be a confused Darth Sidious floating near the Battle of Starkiller Base-' She clapped a hand over her mouth in terror at what she had just revealed.

' Starkiller Base?' Luke said, alarmed. ' What is that?'

' I have said too much,' The Daughter said, beginning to shimmer and disappear. ' Anyways, goodbye, Luke Skywalker. I don't think we will be seeing each other anytime soon.'

' Wait, but-' Luke tried to stop the Daughter from disappearing, but her tall figure simply rippled and vanished.

Just a couple seconds after the Daughter was gone, Ahsoka and Ezra ran out of the building, and skidded to a halt in front of Luke.

' We sensed a great disturbance in the Force,' Ahsoka panted. ' What was that?'

' Oh, nothing,' Luke said. ' It's just the Daughter.'

' The Daughter, again?' Ezra's eyes widened. ' What could that be?'

' It looks like our friends have succeeded,' Luke smiled at them. ' Tell the others.'

 **Epilogue coming up in next chapter :D**

 **This time's 'Me and Star Wars', I won't be doing a dialogue based 'Me and Star Wars'. Instead, I'll be doing a Star Wars themed '15 facts about me'! XD These are all of my opinions, and if you don't agree with these stuff, it's okay. :D**

 **1\. My favourite Star Wars character (in the entire saga) is probably Anakin, followed by Luke. For the animated series, my favourite character is Ahsoka, to be followed by Anakin and Ezra.**

 **2\. My favourite droid in the entire series is R2-D2.**

 **3\. I often wish to have a real life R2-D2. A real life BB-8 sounds great as well.**

 **4\. My main OTP in Star Wars is Anidala.**

 **5\. My favourite lightsaber out of the entire series is Anakin's lightsaber.**

 **6\. This sounds strange, but whenever I encounter a challenging problem in my maths examinations, the Imperial March automatically plays in my head. And it gets louder and louder when I get frustrated.**

 **7\. My favourite duo in the series is Anakin and Ahsoka, to be followed by R2 and 3PO.**

 **8\. My favourite episode in Clone Wars is The Jedi Who Knew Too Much, while my favourite episode in Star Wars Rebels is Twilight of the Apprentice.**

 **9\. I find Jar Jar Binks hilarious.**

 **10\. I know many of you out there ship Luxsoka, Cadsoka, Anisoka and a lot more. Well, I respect all of these ships, and hey, anyone can ship whatever they like, but to be honest (in case some of you are wondering, since I never actually addressed it), I don't exactly ship Ahsoka with anyone, because I feel like she's awesome even on her own. However, if I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY have to pick one, I'll have to say I'll go with Rexsoka.**

 **11\. I cried in the Revenge of the Sith movie. Like at the end.**

 **12\. Star Wars music is wonderful! For the live action movies, I like the main theme and Binary sunset the most. For Clone Wars, I like Ahsoka's Theme the most and for SWR, I like It's Over Now (the soundtrack that played at the very end of Twilight of the Apprentice) the most.**

 **13\. I like to believe that Vader still carried Ahsoka's Padawan beads. No one can convince me otherwise.**

 **14\. I seriously hope that Cody would somehow show up in SWR Season 3.**

 **15\. My favourite lightsaber colour is blue.**


	54. Epilogue and AUTHOR NOTES

**Rather long author's note afterwards, considers sequel or anything that comes after this, so stay tuned! :D**

A large-scale celebratory party was held in honour of the Republic's victory over the Clone Wars at the Jedi Temple, or more specifically, the mess hall. All the clones were required to attend as well to celebrate their victory. All was well.

The mess hall was decorated with sparkling banners and ribbons, which wasn't normal, seeing that Jedi liked things to be simple and blank. And right at the side of the room, behind a DJ booth, Fox was cooking up really catchy tunes. ' This is so much better than those cantina rubbish!' Grey cried.

Obi-wan ordered tons of food and drinks from Dex, and there was a table piled up high with Dex's best dishes, including those amazing fries and club sandwiches. These were Anakin's favourite snacks as a kid.

Ahsoka was invited by Master Yoda as the mini 'guest-of-honour', and chatted with the 501st animatedly at the corner of the mess hall, far away from the Jedi Masters. When Rex wasn't listening, the others bragged about how they tried to make the other clones believe she was innocent during the bombing case without Rex knowing. And in case Rex swooped in onto them, Jesse hid the plate of sandwiches beforehand.

The men were all offered new jobs now that they didn't need to fight a war. The Coruscant guards led by Fox would still be guarding the Senate areas. The 501st would be guarding the Jedi Temple areas (much to Rex's delight) and Dogma was finally released from custody. As for most other legions, they would be dispatched occasionally to guard some planets, but they would be allowed to return to Coruscant during holidays.

Master Shaak Ti had angrily shamed (with the help of the bucket of inhibitor chips AZ-3 had collected) the Kaminoans into creating antidotes to slow down the clones' growth rate, so that they wouldn't start to grow old quickly. Apparently the first batch of experiments worked beautifully, and they expected to be distributing the chemicals to the clones anytime.

Right over at the dessert table, Katooni, Petro and the others were standing together, laughing. Their Force skills were growing day by day, and Ahsoka reckoned they would graduate to Padawans soon.

Anakin had a glass of Corellian wine in hand, deep in thought.

Caleb had told him about the Son's visit, and he was happy about it. But when Caleb asked him innocently if he would like to reveal how they managed to get so much information about Palpatine to Obi-wan or the Council, he refused immediately.

' Some things are better left unsaid,' He had told Caleb seriously.

' Not even your wife or Ahsoka?' Caleb raised an eyebrow. ' I mean, they can be trusted.'

Anakin shook his head.

The young boy shrugged at him lightly in response, and the matter was dropped.

Speaking of Caleb...

Anakin downed his drink and frowned. He hadn't seen Caleb at the party. He assumed he was lurking around the snacks table (assortments of cookies of any flavours were displayed), but when Rex told him he was nowhere to be seen, he started to get suspicious. And so he walked over to ask Master Billaba about her Apprentice (apparently she was also looking around for him), she said, ' That's strange. He was at the party about an hour ago, but I can't see him after then. And he has hid himself from our Force bond, so I have no idea what he is doing.'

What could that boy possible be doing?

Suddenly, the electric music was harshly interrupted by a loud, terrified scream outside. Anakin's hand instinctively went to his lightsaber. That boy, what was he called? Oh right, Petro, was so alarmed that he ignited his lightsaber, whirled around so suddenly that he demolished the entire table.

' What was that?' Obi-wan shouted.

Seconds later, a small Padawan boy ran in, screaming.

' RANCOR IN THE CORRIDORS! RANCOR IN THE CORRIDORS! Thought you ought to know.' He fainted and crumpled to the floor. The Jedi initiates screamed at the same time, ran around and nearly ran over the Padawan boy, who was still sprawled onto the floor, unconscious.

' Order!' Obi-wan waved his hands about. ' Calm down everyone! We'll look at what is going on.'

' Oh, no,' Anakin said with dread, knowing who was responsible for that. Without listening to what Mace Windu was saying to the crowd, he rushed out of the mess hall, and tried to trace for the source of the noise. He could hear growling noises and more screaming in the background. He knew he was going in the right direction when a flurry of shrieking initiates ran past him. He made a swift turn, and into the wide corridor...

Oh, lo and behold.

The sight in front of him was terrifying and peculiar at the same time.

A rancor - a tame, baby rancor, by the looks of it, was running around excitedly, knocking over ancient vases, while roaring at the same time. Riding on top of it, was obviously Caleb, who looked like he was enjoying his ride.

Where did he even get that rancor?

Temple guards were gathered near its foot with their yellow lightsaber pikes ignited, shouting, ' Cease hostilities, cease hostilities' over and over again until their voices were hoarse behind their masks, but well, Caleb was too happy up there to listen to them or worry about Jedi rules.

An unfortunate Temple guard attracted the attention of that young rancor. The creature squealed happily, and proceeded to chase the poor man down the corridors. ' Augh!' He cried, as the excited rancor swatted at his direction, and the poor guard went flying into the wall with a sickening crack. Anakin winced at this, and tried running to get Caleb's attention without attracting the rancour's attention.

Oh bother. He knew Caleb was going to buy a rancor.

 **Aha! The Harry Potter reference ;) Hope you liked the ending, ahem, the rancor.**

 **Whoop whoop so this is the epilogue! I had a fun time writing this, and I am very grateful for all your reviews and continuous support! :DDDDDDDDD**

 **So, some of you would ask if there would be a sequel.**

 **YAAAAAS THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL. XD** **The sequel will _kind of_ be set in the future, and many much more. :D **

**But...**

 **I have been thinking about it for quite some time already, and I must admit it will take some time to plan stuff, you know, plot, characters, settings and all that stuff, so yes, as I have said, I will need loads of time.**

 **For now, I'll move on to some other stories, like one-shots, mini AUs (you know what, I think I might do a series of one-shot college AUs. College AUs sound like fun), or you guys could suggest if you want. And behind all that, I will do some major planning for the sequel to this.**

 **Hopefully, I could start posting up the sequels, dunno, two months later. ;) Sorry for the long wait! But when the sequel is up, I will post up a notification in this fic.**

 **Okay, anyways... Thanks so much for reading this! Hope you guys have a nice day, and remember to stay in tuned! And if you want, feel free to review and give suggestions!**


	55. SNEAK PEAK FOR SEQUEL :D

**Hello, it's Happy Doodle again! :D**

 **I'm pleased to announce the name of the sequel of Touch of the Future - Task of Time! XD**

 **I have finished half of the first chapter, and it was faster than I had expected so I think the full chapter and new story will be posted up in less than a month.**

 **Yeah, but here is a sneak peek of the first chapter ;)**

 _Everyone thought the galaxy was peaceful again._

 _The Daughter had worked hard in order to let the two separate timelines exist together. She was constantly checking up on what the people were doing in each of the timelines, and fixing mistakes whenever necessary, while her brother the Son sulked in the background. Oh, the Father was so proud of his daughter!_

 _Boy, he was bored._

 _Even though he had died and returned to his family in remorse for what he had done to the Chosen One on Mortis, he couldn't help but feel extremely bored whenever things were as quiet as that. Heck, his only entertainment was watching that hilarious Jar Jar Binks in the altered timeline jumping and goofing around in the Senate._

 _If only he could prank someone..._

 _So one day, when his sister was off to visit the Father, he was watching the two timelines at once, but in different time zones._ _The boy Ben Solo, the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo existed in both timelines, he noted with much interest._

 _In the altered timeline, a long time ago from the Battle of Starkiller Base in the other timeline, 15 year old Ben Solo was a dutiful Jedi Padawan studying under the tutelage of Master Luke Skywalker._

 _However, when the Son scanned through the Battle of Starkiller Base in the original timeline, he noticed that 29 year old Ben Solo (*cough* Kylo Ren *cough*) had somehow turned to the Dark Side and was idolising the Chosen One. Furthermore, he was defeated by his own sister Rey (though he didn't know) in a vigorous lightsaber duel._

 _How different._

 _A mischievous plan was formulating in the Son's mind, and he smiled. Perfect. He deserved to have some fun._

 _He reached into the Force, extracting the Ben Solo from the altered timeline and Kylo Ren from the original timeline with ease._

 _Let's see how his beloved sister would react to this wonderful switch._

 _Someone grab the popcorn and soda from the fridge._

 **So there you have it! XD**

 **The Son is bored and it can't be good. :P**

 **Anyways, thanks very much for reading!**


	56. SEQUEL IS OUT! :D

**Hi everyone! :D I'm pleased to inform you all that the sequel is OUUUUUUTTTT! XDDDDDDDDD**

 **You should be able to find it in the Star Wars fan fiction archive, or simply by going through my fics on my page. :D**

 **You are most welcome to pm me about the story if you have any questions about the plot or if you are just confused. :) And really, please put down a review to tell me what you think. Reviews make me happy and I can know what you think about it. :P**

 **Thanks very much, hope you enjoy it!**

 **Wait, Jedi are students will also be updated regularly.**


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